"The police can either lie to Jane or they can be honest with her. If the police lie to Jane, it is probable that they will receive a crucial piece of information. If the police act honestly, they are unlikely to receive the information. What should the police do?"
"If the police can do anything to obtain a confession (beat a suspect, for example), then there is a good chance the suspect's confession won't be voluntary. One might object that force shifts the discussion from deception and dishonesty to brutality. However, concerns regarding political morality are relevant in both cases, force and fraud. Similar to how a confession elicited through physical abuse is unjustified, it is reasonable to think some confessions elicited through material misrepresentation of fact or law should be unjustified."
"Suppose the police tell Jane she has two choices: Confess and face two years in prison or don't confess and face forty years in prison after trial. If Jane confesses based on this information, and the information is a material misrepresentation of the facts or the law (e.g., she's facing only three years regardless of whether she confesses), then the police defrauded Jane of her right to remain silent, among other things-or at least that's the position I stake out in my book on police deception and dishonesty."
Police face a choice between lying to obtain a crucial piece of information or acting honestly and likely not receiving it. Deception may appear useful for law enforcement, but it raises concerns about fraud, voluntariness, consent, the rule of law, and public trust. If police use force to obtain a confession, the confession may not be voluntary; similarly, confessions elicited through material misrepresentation of fact or law can be unjustified. When police present false options about prison time, a confession based on that information can be treated as defrauding the right to remain silent. Justified police institutions rely on normative values such as good faith, honesty, and transparency.
#police-deception #voluntariness-and-consent #rule-of-law #fraud-and-misrepresentation #trust-and-transparency
Read at Apaonline
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