Police Can't Lie During Interrogations Under New Illinois Bill

ILLINOIS — The state is on track to become the first in the nation to stop police from using lying as a tactic to interrogate minors. The bill, which is awaiting approval on Gov. J.B. Pritzker's desk, states that using deceptive measures in interrogations often illicits false confessions.

While police are allowed to knowingly state false facts about evidence and make unsubstantiated promises about deals when interrogating someone under 18, this bill would be the first of its kind to throw out any confession in which a police officer knowingly engages in deception with a minor.

According to the Innocence Project, false confessions have played a role in about 30 percent of all wrongful convictions eventually overturned by DNA evidence. Other recent studies from NYU Law Review suggest people under 18 are two to three times more likely to falsely confess than adults.

"Our criminal justice system should not be guided by a conviction," said Rep. Jim Durkin, one of the bill's sponsors, in a statement, "but rather it should be guided by the advancement of the truth. Deception can never be utilized under any condition in our criminal justice system and particularly against juveniles."

In Illinois in the last three decades, there have been 100 wrongful convictions relying on false confessions, including 31 involving people under 18, according to the Innocence Project.

One of the most famous cases cited by the bill's supporters involved four teenagers who were arrested for a 1995 double murder in Chicago. After over 20 years behind bars, a judge set aside their convictions after lawyers said their confessions were coerced by Chicago police, who falsely threatened them with the death penalty.

The Illinois Chiefs of Police and the Illinois State's Attorney Association supported the bill, which was only opposed by one person in the senate: Republican Rep. Terri Bryant.

"The history of false confessions in Illinois can never be erased, but this legislation is a critical step to ensuring that history is never repeated," said State's Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx in a statement.

Despite overwhelming support, some family justice lawyers and academics said the bill did not include specific punishments for officers who did partake in deception and that young people need protection from police questioning on the streets as well as the interrogation room.

"I hope this is a start to rebuilding confidence and trust in a system that has done harm to so many people for far too long," Foxx said.