Nichols-Backed Legislation Banning Police from Lying to Minors During Interrogations Signed into Law

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – As part of his commitment to improving the way the criminal justice system interacts with communities, state Rep. Cyril Nichols, D-Chicago, backed legislation recently signed into law that bans police from lying to minors in order to extract a confession or information from them during an interrogation.

“Children cannot be expected to fully understand what is at stake when they are in an interrogation, which can lead to outcomes such as minors confessing to crimes they didn’t commit,” said Nichols. “Lying or deceiving children is not the right way to pursue justice, and I am proud to help make Illinois the first state in the country to pass legislation banning these practices.”

According to the Innocence Project, minors are two to three times more likely than adults to falsely confess to a crime. To ensure that minors are not being deceived into making a statement that can land them years in prison for something they did not do, Nichols voted in favor of Senate Bill 2122 which will bar interrogators from using deceptive tactics against juveniles.

“There are no words to express how terrible it is that children were deceived into signing their own prison sentences for crimes they did not commit,” said Nichols. “While this legislation is a historic step in the right direction, more work remains in creating a better justice system for our state.”