Springfield, Ill. (AP) — Illinois became the first state Sunday to pass a bill that will ban police from lying to youth during interrogations ― a practice that adds significantly to the risk of false confessions and wrongful convictions. The original sponsors, state Sen. Robert Peters and state Rep. Justin Slaughter, garnered bipartisan support for the bill that culminated in a near-unanimous vote to pass it in both houses. There, deceptive interrogation techniques have contributed to several infamous juvenile wrongful convictions, including 15-year-old Yusef Salaam of the so-called Central Park Five, now also known as the Exonerated Five. Illinois banned police from lying to kids because it is home to 100 false confessions, 31 from kids. “The history of false confessions in Illinois can never be erased, but this legislation is a critical step to ensuring that history is never repeated,” Foxx said in a press release.

Source: Huffington Post May 31, 2021 17:37 UTC