Help End Police Deception of Youth in Oregon

Call your state representative at 503-809-4632 and urge them to support Senate Bill 418.

It may be hard to believe, but the use of deceptive tactics in the interrogation room is completely legal. Police can lie to suspects about the presence of all types of evidence to leverage someone into confessing — even when that evidence doesn’t exist. These tactics have devastating consequences that have contributed to the 30% of wrongful convictions stemming from false confessions.

Young people are particularly at risk of being harmed by deceptive police tactics. Recent studies suggest that children under 18 are between two and three times more likely to falsely confess than adults. 

On May 30, 2021, Illinois made history by becoming the first state in the country to pass legislation banning police from lying to juveniles during an interrogation. Now, Oregon lawmakers have the opportunity to be the second to ban this practice. Senate Bill 418 is sponsored by State Senator Chris Gorsek, a former Portland police officer, and would prohibit law enforcement from knowingly communicating false facts about evidence and making unauthorized statements regarding leniency when interrogating youth in custody. The bill just passed the Senate and is now in the House for consideration.

Use the form above to connect to your state representative and urge them to support Senate Bill 418 to protect young people in Oregon from wrongful conviction.