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Miranda, Confessions, And Justice: Lessons For Japan?, Richard Leo

Richard A. Leo

This chapter explores whether a Miranda-like warning and waiver regime could be successfully implemented in Japan. The chapter reviews the social science and legal scholarship on Miranda's impact on American interrogation practices and suspect behavior, concluding that most American suspects continue to waive their rights and law enforcement personnel continue to obtain a high number of confessions and convictions. Next, the chapter discusses the contemporary law and practice of interrogation in Japan. In Japan, interrogation appears to be routinely psychologically coercive and virtually all defendants make either partial admissions or full confessions to alleged offenses. Confessions are regarded as superior …