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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

State Lawmaker Wants To Expand Protections For Teens Accused Of Murder

CREDIT "COURTROOM ONE GAVEL" BY FLICKR USER BETH CORTEZ-NEAVEL / (CC BY 2.0)

Illinois State Senator Patricia Van Pelt is sponsoring legislation to expand protections for teenagers accused of murder.

She says they can't make the legal decisions required to waive legal rights. 

State law mandates lawyers be present when police officers aggressively question teenagers aged 12 and under who are accused of murder or sex crimes. 

But youth between 13-and-17 years old can waive their right to a lawyer during interrogations.

Van Pelt's proposal would change that. She cites Saint Clair County's settlement last year in a civil lawsuit. It stemmed from when an East Saint Louis minor falsely confessed to armed robbery.

"He cried, he prayed, he got under the table and tried to hide from them, and tried his best to just make them leave him alone. And finally he confessed and ended up sitting in jail,” Van Pelt said.

The county denied any wrongdoing in that case. 

Critics of Van Pelt's legislation say a better way to address the issue would be to simplify the wording of rights, in a way that teens could more easily understand they have a right to a lawyer. 

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