APSAC filed a friend of the court brief requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court decide whether a traumatized ten-year old child is able to waive his rights to remain silent and get a lawyer when arrested for murder.
Frank Vandervort, APSAC President and a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School stated, “Joseph’s case is simply shocking. The trauma and suffering that he experienced as a young child surely curtailed his development, and any expectation that he could understand Miranda is nothing short of shameful.”