Opinion ID: 2322376
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A Tradition of Concern Surrounding Custodial, Detention-Centered Interrogation

Text: Ascertaining the essential truth of the circumstances surrounding a custodial, detention-centered interrogation long has presented the criminal justice system with unique challenges. As far back as 1936, the United States Supreme Court articulated deep concern in its seminal decision, Brown v. Mississippi , in which the Court acknowledged: Coercing the supposed state's criminals into confessions and using such confessions so coerced from them against them in trials has been the curse of all countries. It was the chief iniquity, the crowning infamy of the Star Chamber, and the Inquisition, and other similar institutions. The Constitution recognized the evils that lay behind these practices and prohibited them in this country.    The duty of maintaining constitutional rights of a person on trial for his life rises above mere rules of procedure, and wherever the court is clearly satisfied that such violations exist, it will refuse to sanction such violations and will apply the corrective. Brown v. Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278, 287, 56 S.Ct. 461, 80 L.Ed. 682 (1936) (quoting Fisher v. State, 145 Miss. 116, 110 So. 361, 365 (1926)). The challenge of balancing the rights of defendants, the evidence-collecting responsibilities of law enforcement and prosecutors, and the truth-seeking goals of judges and juries has been a moving target. Since Brown (and without doubt before Brown ), courts have struggled to maintain an appropriate balance between these interests in myriad contexts. The increased availability and ease of use of advanced technology has altered that balance still more.