![handle is hein.journals/wlro100 and id is 1 raw text is:
INVOLUNTARY: HOW A LACK OF ANALYSIS OF AGE
UNDER THE FIFTH AMENDMENT HIGHLIGHTS THE
INTERSECTIONALITY OF AGE AND RACE
By Julia de la Fuente* and Tonelli Anderson**
Abstract: In the wake of Miller v. Alabama and its progeny, there has been a wider
acceptance that juvenile's need more protections in our judicial system. This is a result of a
growing body of research stating that young people's brains do not fully develop until the age
of twenty-five. States across the country are trying to implement this science to protect juvenile
rights, especially when it comes to sentencing. However, it has yet to be incorporated in other
respects, such as juveniles relinquishing their Fifth Amendment rights. Little attention has been
paid to whether a juvenile's statement in police custody was given voluntarily under the
Fifth Amendment. Looking at six different jurisdictions analysis of juveniles relinquishing
their Fifth Amendment (and the voluntariness of that statement), any protections that have been
added vary in its effectiveness. Further examination of states with a legislative approach and
the cases that result from those jurisdictions indicate courts have less meaningful consideration
of youth. Such lack of consideration has left juveniles in these jurisdictions more susceptible
to adultification as compared to jurisdictions that consider youth within the body of law, such
as within a Miller analysis or within the totality of the circumstances analysis. This Comment
proposes that states like Washington that have delegated this analysis to the legislature should
incorporate a Miller analysis in court enforcement to prevent further adultification of young
people by meaningfully grappling with the characteristics of youth.
INTRODUCTION
In 2000, a young woman in Denver, Colorado was found brutally
beaten, and she died shortly after she was discovered.' Police soon
discovered her boyfriend in bed with blood on his hands and that her car
was missing.2 Days later, police received a tip that two teenagers were
*J.D. Candidate, University of Washington, Class of 2025. I would like to thank Professor Mary Fan
and Professor Kim Ambrose for all the conversations in both of their classes that led to this Comment.
Thank you to Tonelli Anderson for all his work writing this piece and for his unwavering trust in me
while working together in the Race and Justice Clinic. I also would like to thank Ciera Phung-Marion
and my editors at Washington Law Review for all their support in writing this Comment.
**I would like to thank Professor Kim Ambrose and all the students in the University of Washington
Law School Race and Justice Clinic. I would like to thank Travis Stearns for all his help and support
of the years. Thank you to the Black Prisoners Caucus Community Group, Grady Mitchell and Ray
Lewis for being my mentors. Thank you to my family for their never-ending love and support.
1. Maurice Possley, Lorenzo Montoya, THE NATIONAL REGISTRY OF EXONERATIONS (June 17,
2016), https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4446
[https://perma.cc/JV83-XQJ8].
2. Jd
1](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wlro100&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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