Children & Miranda Rights

This past summer, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down an important decision regarding a child’s age and their Miranda rights, J.D.B v. North Carolina, 131 S.Ct. 2394 (2011).  Miranda, which requires police officers to inform a suspect of their rights applies when the suspect is in custody or when being interrogated.  The particular question, concerning Miranda rights this summer, presented to the Supreme Court was whether a child’s age is a factor when determining whether a child is “in custody.” 

In 2005 a 13-year old child was interrogated at his school about neighborhood burglaries.  The boy was not read his Miranda rights and nor were his parents contacted about the questioning.  The boy confessed to the crimes, but then later argued his confession could not be used against him due to his lack of Miranda rights.  The issue was whether or not the boy was in custody at the time of the questioning.  If he was in custody, he should have been read his rights prior to the interrogation.

In a 5-4 opinion, written by Justice Sotomayor, the Supreme Court held that a child’s age should factor into whether or not the child is in custody and thus deserves to be read his rights.  The Court, however, did not determine whether J.D.B.’s specific circumstances resulted in him being in custody, rather the court remanded the case and left the North Carolina courts to determine whether J.D.B was in custody under the newly established rule.