Criminal Justice: A Gain in Confessions

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District Attorney Evelle Younger, 48, of Los Angeles County, was deeply concerned by the Supreme Court's Miranda decision (TIME, June 24). Like many another law-enforcement officer, Younger feared that because of the high court's holding that every suspect must be reminded "prior to questioning" of his right to silence and to legal counsel, there would be a virtual end to all voluntary confessions and a sharp and disheartening decline in successful prosecutions.

Immediately after the decision, ex-FBI Agent Younger ordered a Miranda survey taken throughout his county, which has the largest criminal-case load in the U.S. (see cover story). Younger's study covers a three-week period in June and July and deals with an impressive total of 2,780 felony cases. Younger admits that he was "amazed" by the results of the survey.

One major surprise was the fact that confessions proved essential to successful prosecution "in only a small percent age of criminal cases," largely because many defendants were either caught red-handed in the act or observed by witnesses to the crime. Further, of 790 defendants who were informed of their rights under Miranda, 433 — or nearly 55% — went ahead and made a confession anyway. Apparently, said Younger, "in every human being, however noble or depraved, there is a thing called conscience"; and "large or small, that conscience usually, or at least often, drives a guilty person to confess." Then he added: "Those who hope (or fear) these decisions will eliminate confessions as a legitimate law-enforcement tool will be disappointed (or relieved)."