{"id":29848,"date":"2023-01-13T04:26:10","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T04:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/13\/nypd-says-kids-dont-need-lawyers-while-fighting-reforms-targeting-interrogations-of-minors\/"},"modified":"2023-01-13T04:26:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T04:26:10","slug":"nypd-says-kids-dont-need-lawyers-while-fighting-reforms-targeting-interrogations-of-minors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/13\/nypd-says-kids-dont-need-lawyers-while-fighting-reforms-targeting-interrogations-of-minors\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD Says Kids Don\u2019t Need Lawyers While Fighting Reforms Targeting Interrogations Of Minors"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

from the all-lawyers-do-is-make-us-respect-rights!<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

Leave it to the NYPD to suggest some people\u2019s rights just don\u2019t matter. The NYPD has resisted<\/a> pretty much every reform effort<\/a> shoved in its general direction<\/a> and this one \u2014 which would affect questioning of juvenile detainees \u2014 is being resisted as well. (\u201cStop resisting!\u201d only works in one direction, unfortunately.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s C.J. Ciaramella with more details for Reason<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

The City\u00a0recently\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that a coalition of public defenders, juvenile justice organizations, and other groups are pushing to pass a bill in the next session of the New York Legislature that would require minors speak with a lawyer before they waive their Miranda rights and talk to police.<\/em><\/p>\n

If such a bill passed, New York would join several other states that have tightened rules for juvenile interrogations in recent years. Both\u00a0Maryland<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Washington<\/a>\u00a0passed laws requiring attorney consultations for minors before interrogations. Last year, Illinois became the first state in the U.S. to ban police from lying to minors during interrogations. Oregon followed suit shortly after.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a simple reform: one that ensures minors receive the same constitutional protections adults do when detained by police. There\u2019s no reason they shouldn\u2019t have these protections. While the rights of minors can sometimes be slightly diminished to ensure things like school safety, their rights when arrested by police officers remain exactly the same as every other American.<\/p>\n

All this would do is force the NYPD to give juveniles access to lawyers during questioning \u2014 the same demand that can be made by anyone under arrest. The NYPD ain\u2019t having it, though. And, as Ciaramella points out, the statement it gave The City<\/a> suggests it thinks children should be underserved when arrested, unable to fully utilize their constitutional rights. <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cParents and guardians are in the best position to make decisions for their children, and this bill, while well-intentioned, supplants the judgment of parents and guardians with an attorney who may never have met the individual,\u201d a police spokesperson said in an unsigned email.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No wonder no one signed this horseshit. Who would want to put their name on such self-interested stupidity? <\/p>\n

The NYPD knows lawyers specializing in criminal defense are pretty goddamn good at defending the rights of accused and arrested people. Of course the NYPD doesn\u2019t want anyone qualified to do this important job anywhere near people being questioned, whether they\u2019re juveniles or adults. Pretending its in the best interest of arrestees to get help from people with little to no legal experience works out best for the NYPD and its apparent desire to engage in as much unconstitutional questioning as possible.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like this is just reform for the sake of reform. It\u2019s the desire to prevent the NYPD from adding to the long list of false confessions and rights violations perpetrated by law enforcement agencies across the nation against minors they\u2019ve arrested. There\u2019s nothing theoretical about the potential harm. There are plenty of real life cases found everywhere in the nation. <\/p>\n

Ciaramella highlights just one of them \u2014 a case that shows exactly why the NYPD wants children to have access to no one but parents, as well as why this reform effort is sorely needed.<\/p>\n

\n

Reason\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0in 2021\u00a0on the case of Lawrence Montoya, who at the age of 14 falsely confessed to being at the scene of a murder after several hours of being badgered by two Denver police detectives. Montoya\u2019s mother was present for the first part of the interview. She encouraged him to talk and eventually left her son alone in the interrogation room with detectives, allowing them to lean on him until he gave them what they wanted: a flimsy confession constructed with the facts that they had fed to Montoya.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s what the NYPD prefers: parents who will likely suggest cooperation is the best route and leave it in the hands of professionals who want to secure confessions and convictions, rather than actually seek justice.<\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: children<\/a>, civil rights<\/a>, lawyers<\/a>, minors<\/a>, nypd<\/a>, public defenders<\/a>, representation<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n