<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Court weighs if age should figure into questioning

The Columbian
Published: March 23, 2011, 12:00am

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems ready to force courts to take age into consideration when examining whether a child is in custody and must be given Miranda rights.

A 13-year-old boy confessed to a rash of break-ins in Chapel Hill, N.C. This happened after he was interviewed by a police investigator in a closed room at his school.

The North Carolina Supreme Court refused to throw out his confession, saying the youth was never actually in custody. It also said courts cannot look at age when examining whether the boy thought he could leave the closed room.

Several justices seemed uncomfortable with this idea during oral arguments, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg saying an 8-year-old boy cannot be treated the same as a 38-year-old man.

Justices will rule later this summer.

Loading...