This year on Law Day, we mark 50 years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Miranda v. Arizona, fundamentally changing the way we recognize and protect the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In the half century since Miranda, there have been countless cases refining and explicating the requirements of the Fifth Amendment with respect to custodial interrogation. Despite extensive case law, however, there is no universal agreement on the specific language required. Around the country, from place to place, the version of the warnings varies. In some areas, it is clearer and more understandable than in others.1 One group for whom even the clearest warning may be confusing is young people. With the benefit of research into the teenage brain and comprehension of Miranda warnings by young people, we have begun to rethink how best to protect the Fifth Amendment rights of adolescents.
Research has confirmed what we might intuitively believe—that young people are not as capable as adults of understanding the meaning of Miranda warnings or as likely to invoke their rights.2 They are more likely to be compliant with authority figures, more likely to make false confessions, and less likely to appreciate the long-term consequences of their decisions.3 These findings are consistent with current scientific understanding of the teenage brain and development of the brain’s frontal lobe, which is critical to impulse control and executive functioning and does not fully mature in people until their twenties.4
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