Brief filed: 12/23/2010
Documents
J.D.B. v. North Carolina
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 09-11121
Prior Decision
Decision below 686 S.E.2d 135 (N.C. 2009).
Question Presented
Whether a court may consider a juvenile’s age in a Miranda custody analysis in evaluating the totality of the circumstances and determining whether a reasonable person in the juvenile’s position would have felt he or she was not free to terminate police questioning and leave.
Argument(s)
The age of the person questioned may, consistent with Miranda, be part of the custody analysis; considering age as part of the custody inquiry does not impose any burdens on law enforcement and is consistent with Miranda’s policy goal to provide clear guidelines to law enforcement.
Author(s)
Jeffrey T. Green, Mark D. Hopson, Stephanie P. Hales, Sidley Austin, Washington, D.C.