There is a plethora of questions result if one deduces the seriousness of the situation. For instance, should the system be reevaluated in terms of the rights of minors; especially when it comes to interrogation practices? Or did the police in Jacksonville, Florida just represent a few bad apples in an otherwise functioning system? The answers to these questions are fair from obvious and subject to intense arguments from both sides of the debate.
Another consideration that is relevant would be the frequency of occurrences in which innocent people are imprisoned. Websites such as www.injusticebusters.com have devoted an incredible amount of time and energy documenting occurrences in which individuals were wrongly convicted of crimes. It is apparent after inspection of cases represented on websites such as these, that even though Brenton Butler was able to receive a fair judgment in the courtroom, not every tried suspect receives such a favorable outcome.
3) Do you think a juvenile's rights should be extended by the Supreme Court after watching this video (which one's?) Clearly the stakes are high in this case. In most juvenile cases, the stakes are not this high.
I do personally believe that juvenile's rights should be extended by the Supreme Court. Juveniles are particularly vulnerable to...
Therefore, I believe that there should be protective measures developed to make sure that one overbearing law officer cannot effectively pressure a juvenile suspect into making a false confession.
Though in Brenton Butler's case the officers used force and intimidation to secure their confession, it is also reasonable to speculate that other false confessions might have been obtained without using physical abuse. For example, if a juvenile possesses a level of immaturity then they may agree to a false confession through purely verbal intimidation techniques. One way that this could possibly be avoided is to mandate that some independent observer must be present during questioning. A defense attorney would serve as an obvious candidate for this role.
However, though most people would agree that laws should be protecting the innocent with rigorous vigor, the extent of the measures also need to taken into consideration. For example, most people would also agree that it is important to provide the legal system with the tools to convict the guilty. Therefore, a reasonable balance must ensue to meet both of these prerequisites. However, in the case of juveniles, my opinion is that they should protected by every reasonable protection available.
