PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Charles Smith Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially juveniles) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
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POST: "A Roller Coaster Ride of a Year in False Confessions," by Steven A. Drizen, published by The Huffington Post on December 21, 2017. Steven Drizen is Contributor Clinical Professor of Law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law;
GIST: In many ways, 2017 has been a banner year for false confessions and police interrogations. There have been numerous exonerations based on false confessions, media coverage of the subject has been intense and in-depth, legal reforms have passed which have provided greater protections for suspects during interrogations, and there has been a sea change in some law enforcement practices with regard to interrogations. Let’s get to the highlights and low lights but first, let’s look inside the numbers. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, there have been 127 exonerations so far in 2017. Twenty-five of these wrongful convictions rested, in part, on false confessions. Out of those 25, twelve came from Chicago, allowing Chicago to retain its title as the false confession capital of the United States. (Read on dear readers as Prof. Drizen takes us month by month on a roller coaster ride of a year in false confessions. It's a wonderful read. Every word. HL)....PS: I really like Prof. Drizen's parting words to the out-going year: "Goodbye 2017. Here’s hoping that those of us working to prevent coerced and false confessions can continue to bend the arc of the moral universe even further toward justice in 2018."
The entire story can be found at:
