Juvenile Miranda Warnings

Abstract

The American Bar Association, via its newly adopted policy, seeks fundamental changes in procedural justice with respect to juvenile Miranda warnings. It calls for understandable Miranda warnings to educate youth in custody regarding the relevant Constitutional protections. In surveying prosecutors and public defenders, the authors collected 293 juvenile Miranda warnings that are intended specifically for youthful offenders. Length and reading levels were analyzed and compared to an earlier survey. Nearly two thirds (64.9%) of these warnings were very long (> 175 words), which hinders Miranda comprehension. In addition, most juvenile warnings (91.6%) require reading comprehension higher than a 6th-grade level; 5.2% exceed a 12th-grade reading level. Combining across two surveys, more than half of juvenile Miranda warnings are highly problematic because of excessive lengths or difficult reading comprehension. However, simple and easily read Miranda components were identified that could be used to improve juvenile advisements. Breaking new ground, Miranda waivers were examined for both juveniles and their parents/interested adults. Interestingly, most juvenile versions emphasized waivers in positive terms (e.g., "an opportunity") and downplayed the potential for negative consequences.

Safeguarding Youth Interrogation Rights: The Effect of Grade Level and Reading Complexity of Youth Waiver Forms on the Comprehension of Legal Rights

“…For example, an analysis of juvenile Miranda warnings in the USA by Rogers et al (2012) found that nearly half of the 371 juvenile warnings they analyzed were excessively long (i.e., >225 words) or had a passage written at a college reading level. Eastwood et al (2012; Study 1) also analyzed the complexity of youth waiver forms in use by Canadian police organizations and found that 80% of the forms contained at least one section that required a post-secondary reading level to comprehend, and each form contained, on average, 23 difficult words (i.e., more than a Grade 7 level of education was needed to comprehend the word).…”

The MRCI with juvenile detainees: optimizing performance or emphasizing ecological validity?

“…However, CMR-II could be compared with representative Miranda warnings from national surveys. Prototypical warnings are available for different reading levels for both general (Rogers, Blackwood, et al, 2012) and juvenile warnings . Thus, the relationship of the MRCI warning to representative Miranda warnings would represent a vitally important step in establishing ecological validity.…”

“…As designed, the CMR-II warning is intentionally brief (86 words) and simple to understand (reading level = grade 6.8). When warnings and waivers are administered together, "typical" lengths include the range from 125 to 175 words for general as well as juvenile warnings (Rogers, Blackwood, et al, 2012). Moreover, reading levels beyond the ninth grade are very common.…”

“…Stated differently, approximately 50% of mid-teens (aged 14 and 15) produced a ceiling effect, receiving the highest possible score (see Rogers et al, 2017). As noted, the CMR-II focuses on five very simple statements with a total of 86 words, which is far easier than most juvenile advisements (Rogers, Blackwood, et al, 2012). Moreover, this large disparity led us to consider more generally whether forensic assessments should consider optimized performances or real-world applications.…”

Mesure de la complexité de lecture des formulaires de déclaration et de renonciation aux droits pour adolescents québécois

“…Les chercheurs examinant les raisons qui expliqueraient de faibles niveaux de compréhension ont suggéré qu'une des raisons principales est la nature complexe du texte juridique (Rogers, Blackwood, Fiduccia, Steadham, Drogin et Rogstad 2012;Rogers, Hazelwood, Sewell, Shuman et Blackwood 2008). Certains éléments de preuve qui appuient cette explication de complexité sont présentés dans une étude récente menée par Eastwood, Snook et Luther (2012).…”