Taping interrogations
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Opinion/Editorials ť Daily Editorial Sunday, July 20, 2003
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Taping interrogations
PICKING up where his Republican predecessor left off, Illinois Gov.
Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, has signed a bill requiring the
videotaping or audiotaping of the interrogations and confessions of
murder suspects.
The law is to be implemented in two years. Only Alaska and Minnesota
currently have such requirements, but under court order.
Criminal justice experts generally agree that Illinois has taken an
extraordinary step even though the bill was watered down.
For example, the law only requires taping inside police facilities,
and police cannot tape a suspect who tells them not to.
Such exceptions open the door to mischief, critics say.
Maybe so, but what's more likely is that, once taped confessions
become commonplace, prosecutors who come to trial without them could
have otherwise solid cases undermined in the eyes of judges and
jurors.
The taping law is part of a package of reforms urged by former Gov.
George Ryan's Commission on Capital Punishment. Illinois' system was
so deeply flawed that Gov. Ryan ordered a moratorium on death
sentences in 2000, and then, before stepping down in January,
commuted all of Illinois' death sentences.
It had to be done to restore public confidence, Gov. Ryan said.
He acted after 13 people had to be released from Illinois' death
row, including four who were innocent and were pardoned. Among the
13 wrongly convicted were several who claimed they were tortured
into confessing.
A civilized society simply cannot tolerate torture, not even of
those who some may think deserve it. Taking the secrecy out of
police interrogations will give not only added integrity to police
investigations, but an added layer of protection to those facing the
death penalty and those who must sleep after imposing it.
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