Student Interrogations

The General Assembly approved an ACLU bill setting standards for police interrogation of students in public schools. The bill generally requires parents of students in grades 1-8 to first be contacted, if possible, and offered the opportunity to be present at any such in-school interrogations. High school students are provided the option of having a parent or other third party present for any interrogation. Last year, the ACLU investigated a complaint from parents in one school district where their child was questioned alone in school – in response to an anonymous tip – about allegedly having been pregnant and burying her fetus in the basement. There was no basis for the allegation, but the interrogation understandably left the student (and her parents) quite distraught.