Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

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4 Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters Cases

State v. K.R.C.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Jul 2025

Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

+2 Ƶ

State v. K.R.C.

This case asks whether a 12-year-old boy was in custody and entitled to Miranda warnings during a closed-door police interrogation by a school resource officer in the school building. The court of appeals held that he was not in custody, not entitled to Miranda warnings, and voluntarily incriminated himself. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and the Ƶof Wisconsin filed an amicus brief arguing that admitting the boy’s statements into evidence not only violated the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution but Article I, Section 8 of the Wisconsin Constitution, and urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rest its decision on the state charter to better protect Wisconsinites’ civil liberties.
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State V. K.r.c.. Explore Case.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Jul 2025
State v. K.R.C.

Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

+2 Ƶ

State v. K.R.C.

This case asks whether a 12-year-old boy was in custody and entitled to Miranda warnings during a closed-door police interrogation by a school resource officer in the school building. The court of appeals held that he was not in custody, not entitled to Miranda warnings, and voluntarily incriminated himself. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and the Ƶof Wisconsin filed an amicus brief arguing that admitting the boy’s statements into evidence not only violated the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution but Article I, Section 8 of the Wisconsin Constitution, and urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rest its decision on the state charter to better protect Wisconsinites’ civil liberties.
State V. K.r.c.. Explore Case.
State v. Fenderson
Michigan Supreme Court
Jun 2025

Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

State v. Fenderson

This case asks whether the government can elicit inculpatory statements from a defendant by giving him misleading information about his rights and applying coercive pressure, then using the statements against him in a criminal case. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and the Ƶof Michigan filed an amicus brief arguing that such actions by the government violate a defendant’s rights under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, independently, Article 1, Section 17 of the Michigan Constitution, which affords even broader protections against self-incrimination than the Fifth Amendment.
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State V. Fenderson. Explore Case.
Michigan Supreme Court
Jun 2025
State v. Fenderson

Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

State v. Fenderson

This case asks whether the government can elicit inculpatory statements from a defendant by giving him misleading information about his rights and applying coercive pressure, then using the statements against him in a criminal case. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and the Ƶof Michigan filed an amicus brief arguing that such actions by the government violate a defendant’s rights under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, independently, Article 1, Section 17 of the Michigan Constitution, which affords even broader protections against self-incrimination than the Fifth Amendment.
State V. Fenderson. Explore Case.
State of Hawaiʻi v. Zuffante
Hawaii Supreme Court
Apr 2025

Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

State of Hawaiʻi v. Zuffante

In 1994, the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi held in State v. Kekona that the due process clause of the Hawai‘i Constitution does not require custodial interrogations to be recorded. More than 30 years later, with advances in technology that have made recording far easier, this case asks whether this decision should be reconsidered. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the Ƶof Hawai‘i filed an amicus brief arguing that the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi should now hold that custodial interrogations must be recorded in order to be admissible in court, either as a matter of due process or as an exercise of the Court’s supervisory authority over lower courts.
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State Of Hawaiʻi V. Zuffante. Explore Case.
Hawaii Supreme Court
Apr 2025
State of Hawaiʻi v. Zuffante

Ending Abusive and Biased Police Encounters

State of Hawaiʻi v. Zuffante

In 1994, the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi held in State v. Kekona that the due process clause of the Hawai‘i Constitution does not require custodial interrogations to be recorded. More than 30 years later, with advances in technology that have made recording far easier, this case asks whether this decision should be reconsidered. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the Ƶof Hawai‘i filed an amicus brief arguing that the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi should now hold that custodial interrogations must be recorded in order to be admissible in court, either as a matter of due process or as an exercise of the Court’s supervisory authority over lower courts.
State Of Hawaiʻi V. Zuffante. Explore Case.