​Miranda​ Rights Research.

The Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab conducts research on juveniles’ Miranda rights comprehension and youths' capacities to waive rights during police questioning. Through this work, the JJR&R Lab produced a forensic assessment tool, data to inform best practices in Miranda waiver evaluations, and policy recommendations to inform legislative and judicial changes to protect youths' rights during interrogation.

Featured Activities

The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments (MRCI)
The MRCI, the revised version of Grisso’s (1998) Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights, consists of four instruments to assess defendants' understanding and appreciation of the Miranda warnings. The MRCI has been recognized as the "gold standard" forensic assessment tool for use in cases challenging the admissibility of confession evidence based on a defendant's Miranda comprehension. The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments (Goldstein, Zelle, & Grisso, 2012, 2014) are published by and available from Professional Resource Press.

Research on Youths’ Miranda Waiver Capacities
The Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab conducted several large-scale studies to better understand juveniles' Miranda rights comprehension and waiver capacities. They collected data from juveniles in pre- and post-adjudication residential facilities, school-based community youth, adults housed in correctional facilities, and university-based community adults. Dr. Goldstein and the lab have used results from this line of research to inform legislative and judicial decision makers as they develop Miranda waiver laws.

Promoting Best Practices in Miranda Waiver Policy and Practice
Through writing, research, and consultation, Dr. Goldstein and the Lab promote best practices in juvenile Miranda waiver evaluations and legal challenges to the validity of Miranda waivers. She co-authored the book, Evaluating Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights (Goldstein & Goldstein, 2010), which was published by Oxford University Press in the Best Practices in Forensic Mental Health Assessment book series. This book provides an empirically based guide to conducting Miranda waiver evaluations, providing best practice recommendations for data collection, interpretation, report writing, and expert testimony. Dr. Goldstein and members of the JJR&R Lab lead workshops and trainings on juveniles’ Miranda waivers for forensic mental health evaluators, attorneys, and judges.

Contributing to Developmentally Informed Policy Change
Dr. Goldstein and the JJR&R Lab collaborate with legal advocacy organizations to translate research findings into policy recommendations regarding youths’ Miranda waivers. 

Dr. Goldstein contributed to an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in J.D.B. v. State of North Carolina (2011) by Northwestern University School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth. The brief was cited in the Court’s majority opinion, which recognized that juveniles are qualitatively different from adults and established that age should be considered in the Miranda-related custody analysis when juveniles are questioned. 

She provided empirically based recommendations to California Governor Jerry Brown’s Office and to Human Rights Watch to inform the proposal and signing of California Senate Bill 395. This bill, signed on October 11, 2017, requires that youth 15 years of age or younger consult legal counsel before waiving Miranda rights. 

Building on these data-driven recommendations, Dr. Goldstein and the lab, in collaboration with colleagues at the Juvenile Law Center, prepared a broader set of juvenile Miranda waiver policy reform recommendations. These recommendations appeared in the N.Y.U. Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, available here.

Related Lab Publications

Articles
Goldstein, N. E. S., Haney-Caron, E., Levick, M., & Whiteman, D. (2018). Waving good-bye to waiver: A developmental argument against youths’ waiver of their Miranda rights. 21 N.Y.U. Journal of Legislation and Public Policy 1.
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Haney-Caron, C., Goldstein, N. E. S., & Mesiarik, C. (2018). Self-perceived likelihood of false confession: A comparison of justice-involved juveniles and adults. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45, 1955-1976. 

Zelle, H., Riggs Romaine, C., & Goldstein, N. E. S. (2015). Juveniles’ Miranda comprehension: Understanding, appreciation, and totality of circumstances factors. Law and Human Behavior, 39, 281-293.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Riggs Romaine, C., Zelle, H., Kalbeitzer, R., Mesiarik, C., & Wolbransky, M. (2011). Psychometric properties of the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments with a juvenile justice sample. Assessment, 18, 428-441. 

O’Connell, M. J., Garmoe, W., & Goldstein, N. E. S. (2005). Miranda comprehension in adults with mental retardation and the effects of feedback style on suggestibility. Law and Human Behavior, 29, 359-369.

Goldstein, N. E., Condie, L. O., Kalbeitzer, R., Osman, D., & Geier, J. (2003). Juvenile offenders’ Miranda rights comprehension and self-reported likelihood of offering false confessions. Assessment, 10, 359-369.

Oberlander, L. B., & Goldstein, N. E. (2001). A review and update on the practice of evaluating Miranda comprehension. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 19, 453-471. 

​Assessment Tools and Books
Goldstein, N. E. S., Zelle, H., & Grisso, T. (2014). The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments: Manual for Juvenile and Adult Evaluations. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Zelle, H., & Grisso, T. (2012). The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.

Goldstein, A. M. & Goldstein, N. E. S. (2010). Evaluating capacity to waive Miranda rights. New York: Oxford University Press.

Book Chapters
Kelley, S., Zelle, H., Brogan, L., & Goldstein N. E. S. (2018). Review of research on understanding and appreciation of Miranda warnings. In B. H. Bornstein & M. K. Miller (Eds.), Advances in psychology and law (pp. 77-117). New York: Springer.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Kelley, S. M., Peterson, L., Brogan, L., Zelle, H. & Riggs Romaine, C. (2016). Evaluation of Miranda waiver capacity. In K. Heilbrun, D. DeMatteo, & N. E. S. Goldstein (Eds.), APA handbook of psychology and juvenile justice (pp. 467-488). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Goldstein, A. M., Zelle, H., & Condie, L. O. (2012). Capacity to waive Miranda rights and the assessment of the validity of a waiver. In R. K. Otto (Ed.), Handbook of psychology (2nd Edition): Volume 11, Forensic psychology (pp. 381-411). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Goldstein, A. M., Goldstein, N. E. S., & Zelle, H. (2012). Evaluation of capacity to waive Miranda rights. In R. Roesch & P. A. Zapf (Eds.), Forensic assessments in criminal and civil law: A handbook for lawyers (pp. 47-59). New York: Oxford University Press.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Kelley, S., Riggs Romaine, C., & Zelle, H. (2012). Impact of juvenile suspects’ linguistic abilities on Miranda understanding and appreciation. In P. Tiersma & L. Solan (Eds.), Oxford handbook on language and law (pp. 299-311). New York: Oxford University Press.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Condie, L. O., & Kalbeitzer, R. (2005). Instruments for assessing understanding and appreciation of Miranda rights. In T. Grisso, G. Vincent, & D. Seagrave (Eds.), Handbook for mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice (pp. 357-369). New York: Guilford Publications.
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Oberlander, L., Goldstein, N. E., & Goldstein, A. M. (2003). Competence to confess: Evaluating the validity of Miranda waivers and trustworthiness of confessions. In A. M. Goldstein (Ed.), Handbook of psychology: Volume 11, Forensic psychology (pp. 335-357). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

In the Media

• The New Yorker - "Why Are Educators Learning How To Interrogate Their Students?"

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