Juvenile Miranda Warnings: Comprehension and Understanding of Constitutional Safeguards

青少年米兰达警告：对宪法保障的理解和理解

• 批准号: 1219430
• 负责人: Richard Rogers
• 金额: $ 33.49万
• 依托单位: University of North Texas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1219430&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Juvenile; Miranda; Warnings; Comprehension; Understanding

More than a million juvenile suspects are arrested annually and taken into custody. Prior to any confessions or other statements, they must be informed of their Constitutional rights against self-incrimination via Miranda warnings. Juvenile warnings vary in how they are presented (i.e., oral, written, or both) and in their reading levels. Using representative juvenile Miranda warnings, this project is the first to examine how much juveniles understand and apply to their decision-making about whether to exercise their Constitutional rights. The project uses two relevant samples: at-risk youth in juvenile justice alternative education and juvenile detainees in custody. The project also investigates several misconceptions about Miranda warnings that can nullify any rational reasoning about Constitutional protections. For example, many adolescents believe that their silence can be used as incriminating evidence, which might affect their decision whether to talk to police. Two aspects of Miranda misconceptions are studied: (1) their initial beliefs and (2) any improvements as a result of being Mirandized.This research has far-reaching implications for public policy and appellate court decisions. In 2010, the American Bar Association recognized the national problem of providing juvenile suspects with Miranda warnings they could not understand. This project should assist their initiative for by identifying current problems in the administration of juvenile advisements. The U.S. Supreme Court has recently decided several cases, which established that juveniles be dealt with differently in light of their maturity and intellectual development. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court directly addressed juvenile Miranda issues, holding that juvenile suspects are not "miniature adults" and that age is relevant in considering the validity of Miranda waivers. The current research will help to inform the state and federal courts regarding the potential provision of additional Miranda protections for juvenile offenders.

每年有超过一百万青少年嫌疑人被捕并被拘留。在任何认罪或其他陈述之前，必须通过米兰达警告告知他们反对自证其罪的宪法权利。青少年警告的呈现方式（即口头、书面或两者兼而有之）和阅读水平各不相同。该项目利用代表性青少年米兰达警告，首次考察青少年对是否行使宪法权利的理解和应用程度。该项目使用两个相关样本：少年司法替代教育中的高危青少年和在押少年被拘留者。该项目还调查了对米兰达警告的几种误解，这些误解可能使有关宪法保护的任何理性推理无效。例如，许多青少年认为他们的沉默可以作为定罪证据，这可能会影响他们是否与警方交谈的决定。研究了米兰达误解的两个方面：（1）他们最初的信念和（2）米兰达化后的任何改进。这项研究对公共政策和上诉法院的判决具有深远的影响。 2010年，美国律师协会认识到向青少年嫌疑人提供他们无法理解的米兰达警告的全国性问题。该项目应通过确定青少年建议管理中当前的问题来协助他们的倡议。美国最高法院最近对几起案件做出了裁决，规定根据青少年的成熟度和智力发展情况对其进行不同的处理。 2011年，美国最高法院直接处理青少年米兰达问题，认为青少年嫌疑人不是“微型成年人”，年龄是考虑米兰达豁免有效性的相关因素。目前的研究将有助于向州和联邦法院通报可能为少年犯提供额外米兰达保护的情况。