ABSTRACT
Because the third degree has virtually disappeared (Leo 2004), false confessions might seem not only aberrational but also completely irrational. However, confessions by the innocent still occur and pose a serious problem for the American criminal justice system in general and law enforcement in particular (Drizin and Leo 2004; Kassin 2005). No responsible scholar or practitioner suggests that the police intentionally seek to obtain false confessions or that prosecutors deliberately convict the innocent. Indeed, there is little evidence that intentional abuses of power occur with significant frequency. Rather, it appears that a lack of proper training and the use of improper interrogation techniques are the primary reasons that false confessions occur. Police are not always trained to avoid eliciting false confessions or to recognize their varieties and distinguishing characteristics. This chapter briefly documents the process of interrogation and explains why false confessions, like truthful ones, can be understandable responses to certain interrogative strategies.
