Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker on Thursday signed the first law in the country prohibiting law enforcement agencies from lying and using other methods of deception when interrogating minors.
The rules, which come into force on January 1, prohibit such techniques as the false promise of mitigation of punishment and the claim that incriminating evidence exists when there is none. According to Pritzker, this indicates that the state recognizes «the need to change the laws that have failed the people they serve.»
The use of deception tactics during interrogations is usually allowed in the United States. But, as experts note, the practice often leads to false confessions. In particular, this applies to minors, who, as some studies show, make false confessions two to three times more often than adults.
The bill was one of four criminal justice bills signed by Pritzker on Thursday to protect the «rights of the most vulnerable» segments of society.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Fox, whose jurisdiction includes Chicago, supported the new restrictions on police interrogations.
«We continue to work to correct the mistakes of the past: mistakes made by law enforcement agencies, including the prosecutor’s office,» she said in a statement.
According to David Sklansky, a Stanford law professor and co-director of the Stanford Center for Criminal Justice, minors and other vulnerable people, such as people with intellectual disabilities, are particularly affected by deception.
Terrill Swift, who says Chicago police forced him to give a false confession at the age of 17, said at a press conference on Thursday that the bill «could have saved my life.»
Swift was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of raping and murdering a woman — having spent 15.5 years behind bars. He was later acquitted on the basis of DNA analysis.
