Questioning the Rights of Juvenile Prisoners during Interrogation

Part I of this Note will review a recent Colorado case involving the interrogation of a juvenile prisoner and the application of the additional-restraint factors within a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. Part II will analyze how the decision in the Colorado case and the additional-restraint factors comport with the meaning of custody as set forth in U.S. courts\u27 jurisprudence on custodial interrogations. Part III will propose that juvenile prisoners should be presumed in custody for Miranda purposes absent exceptional circumstances. It then will present the justification for this presumption, including a discussion of the solicitude normally provided to juveniles in the criminal justice system. Part III also explores the problems with the additional-restraint factors and the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. This essay concludes that juvenile prisoners should be found to be in custody for Miranda purposes, unless certain exceptional circumstances are present

Questioning the Rights of Juvenile Prisoners during Interrogation

Part I of this Note will review a recent Colorado case involving the interrogation of a juvenile prisoner and the application of the additional-restraint factors within a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. Part II will analyze how the decision in the Colorado case and the additional-restraint factors comport with the meaning of custody as set forth in U.S. courts\u27 jurisprudence on custodial interrogations. Part III will propose that juvenile prisoners should be presumed in custody for Miranda purposes absent exceptional circumstances. It then will present the justification for this presumption, including a discussion of the solicitude normally provided to juveniles in the criminal justice system. Part III also explores the problems with the additional-restraint factors and the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. This essay concludes that juvenile prisoners should be found to be in custody for Miranda purposes, unless certain exceptional circumstances are present