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Article
Interrogation Parity
Faculty Publications & Other Works
  • Stephen Rushin, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
  • Kate Levine, St. John's University - School of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract

This Article addresses the special interrogation protections afforded exclusively to the police when they are questioned about misconduct. In approximately twenty states, police officers suspected of misconduct are shielded by statutory Law Enforcement Officer Bills of Rights. These statutes frequently limit the tactics investigators can use during interrogations of police officers. Many of these provisions limit the manner and length of questioning, ban the use of threats or promises, require the recording of interrogations, and guarantee officers a reprieve from questioning to tend to personal necessities. These protections, which are available to police but not to ordinary criminal suspects, create inequality in our criminal justice system.

In this Article, we propose a novel method by which the federal government could combat this distributional inequality while promoting broader reform in the area of police interrogation procedures. This Article proposes that Congress use its spending power to condition funds to police departments on the adoption of uniform, minimum protections for both police and civilian suspects facing interrogations.

Citation Information
Kate Levine & Stephen Rushin, Interrogation Parity, 2018 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1685 (2018)