Washington: Illinois on Thursday became the first US state to ban police officers to lie when questioning minors.
Democratic Governor JB Pritzker signed a law, which will come into force in 2022, to end the practice that critics say increases the risk of false recognition extracted, and hence a miscarriage of justice.
Recognition of children and adolescents is obtained “by fraud”, either by presenting the wrong facts or with false promises with clemency, it will no longer be accepted during the trial, according to new law.
“The important principle of good governance recognizes the need to change the law that has failed, the people they serve,” said the governor when he signed a new law.
This reform “makes Illinois the first situation in this country to make law enforcement from using cheating tactics when interrogating young people,” said the text of the document.
It was legal for the police to lie to the suspect during the interrogation for decades, for example by telling them that they had eyewitnesses who confirmed someone’s guilt.
Practice “has caused a very high level of false recognition among adolescent suspects,” According to a study by the New York University Law School published in 2017.
Registry National of Exonerations, which compiles the notes of the wrong people being punished and then cleaned, estimating that 12 Percent of more than 2,800 cases in the database involves false recognition.
Among the most echoed cases were black and Hispanic teenagers who were punished for rape and tried the murder of a runner at Central Park in New York City in 1989, based on the recognition of the police extracted by promising their freedom.
“Park Central Five” spent between six and 13 years in prison before the series of rapists admitted to attack runners and acted themselves.