Help Protect Youth in Vermont from Deceptive Interrogation Tactics

Call 802-210-1491 to urge your lawmakers to override Gov. Scott’s veto of S. 6 into law before June 20.

In the unjust case of the Exonerated Five in New York City, innocent children broke down and falsely confessed to attacking a jogger in Central Park, after the police lied and said their friends not only confessed but also implicated them in the crime. Like many exonerees, they were subjected to police deception — a tactic that allows law enforcement to lie about the existence of incriminating evidence and/or leniency they could provide in order to coerce confessions, even if law enforcement doesn’t have any proof of their guilt.
The use of deception can lead to false confessions, which played a part in one-third of the nation’s first 375 DNA exonerations. Experts have spoken out against the use of deception in interrogations because it is dangerous, unnecessary, and increases the chances of wrongful conviction. Youth are particularly vulnerable to falsely confessing, and even more so when they are lied to by police during an interrogation. However, the tactic remains legal in most of the country.
Vermont lawmakers have recently passed legislation that would ban police from lying to children in order to coerce confessions — but Governor Scott recently vetoed it. 

Fortunately, the Vermont legislature has the opportunity to override the governor’s veto in a special session on June 20 and help ensure true justice in your state’s criminal legal system — but we need your help to get this bill passed.

Use the above form to contact your lawmakers and urge them to pass S. 6 to ban juvenile deception in Vermont.