Young people's understanding and assertion of their rights to silence and legal counsel

Using hypothetical vignettes, two studies examined factors affecting the assertion of rights to silence and legal counsel. Study 1 tested Grade 6, 8, 10 and 13 students' understanding of their rights to silence and counsel and the impact of age and context-specific variables (guilt and evidence) on their decision to assert rights. Study 2 examined the impact of guilt and evidence on young adults' decisions to assert rights to silence and counsel. In Study 1, a substantial majority (80-90%) of subjects over the age of 16 successfully paraphrased these rights, while only a third of the youngest subjects did so. Over 75% of subjects in both studies asserted the right to counsel; assertion was unrelated to grade. Less than half the subjects in Study 1 asserted the right to silence but assertion increased significantly with grade, with the Grade 10 and 13 students showing comparable assertion rates to the young adults (60%). Both youth and adult subjects were sensitive to the contextual factors of guilt and evidence, though the nature of the effects on assertion of rights depended on the particular right in question and on subjects' age. Youths' patterns of assertion suggest that they are more naive about the realities of the legal system than are adults, although even adults showed evidence of naivety about the need for due process protection. Thus, merely extending due process rights to youths will not adequately protect them in an adult-like youth justice system.