Confrontation in the United States
The Sixth Amendment entitlement that an accused person must be confronted in court with the witnesses against him or her. The right to confrontation is often thought to be synonymous with the right to cross-examine accusers or adverse witnesses, but cross-examination is only one element in the clause’s broader objective of fully exposing evidence to the rigors of close scrutiny. The right to confront requires that witnesses be brought to open court and placed under oath and thereby under the threat of perjury. Their testimony as well as their manner and presence is assessed there. The confrontation right entitles an accused to challenge the evidence against him or her in an attempt to present the best factual defense possible. An accused person is therefore given the opportunity to be present at all proceedings against him or her, and a relatively unrestricted direct examination/cross-examination process can be utilized. The Supreme Court held in Pointer v. Texas (380 U.S. 400: 1965) that the right to confrontation is a fundamental right that applies not only in federal cases but to the states as well through the Fourteenth Amendment.
See Also
Cross-Examination (Criminal Process) Direct Examination (Criminal Process).
Analysis and Relevance
The right to confrontation protects defendants from anonymous accusers. It permits a defendant to hear testimony and examine the evidence against him or her as fully as possible. Historically, the right to confront has meant that witness and defendant must be present in the courtroom for the trial at least. Though that expectation generally holds, it is not inflexible. A defendant may waive the right to presence and choose not to attend any or all of the proceedings. A defendant’s courtroom behavior may also become sufficiently disruptive to justify removal of the defendant from the courtroom as a requisite to continuing. The Supreme Court ruled in Illinois v. Allen (391 U.S. 123: 1970) that removal of such defendants was acceptable. The Supreme Court has also said that the right to confront prohibits a state from placing a screen between a defendant and child victims who might testify. The Court said in Coy v. Iowa (108 S. Ct. 2798: 1988) that the confrontation protection guarantees the defendant a “face-to-face meeting” with all witnesses.
Notes and References
- Definition of Confrontation from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California
Confrontation Definition
In practice. The act by which a witness is brought into the presence of the accused, so that the latter may object to him, if he can, and the former may know and identify the accused, and maintain the truth in his presence. No man can be a witness unless confronted with the accused, except by consent.
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In practice. The act by which a witness is brought into the presence of the accused, so that the latter may object to him, if he can, and the former may know and identify the accused, and maintain the truth in his presence. No man can be a witness unless confronted with the accused, except by consent.
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This definition of Confrontation Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This definition needs to be proofread..
Resources
See Also
Criminal Procedure.
Cahiers Confrontation, Les.
Further Reading (Books)
Major, René. (1991). Lacan avec Derrida. Paris:Éditions Mentha.
Besserman Vianna, Helena. (1995). N ‘en parlezà personne. La psychanalyse face à la dictature et à la torture. Paris:Éditions l’Harmattan.
Collège International de Philosophie. (1991). Lacan avec les philosophes. Paris: Editions Albin Michel.
Further Reading (Articles)
Positive Confrontation? Yes, It’s Possible, and It Can Be a Good Learning Experience, Strategic Finance; February 1, 2006; Katz, Ronald M.
The Confrontation Calamity, EHS Today (Online Exclusive); June 3, 2014
Military-economic confrontation: its essence, basic trends and forms., Military Thought; October 1, 2006; Gordienko, D.V.
Strategies for effective confrontation. (Management Toolbox)., Radiologic Technology; May 1, 2002; Davidhizar, Ruth Cathon, Douglas
The Right of Confrontation, Ongoing Emergencies, and the Violent-Perpetrator-at-Large Problem, Stanford Law Review; December 1, 2008; Stewart, Scott G.
Dialogic Considerations of Confrontation as a Counseling Activity: An Examination of Allen Ivey’s Use of Confronting as a Microskill, Journal of Counseling and Development : JCD; July 1, 2010; Strong, Tom Zeman, Don
Military strategic confrontation: forms and methods of influencing the economic potential of the enemy.(Report), Military Thought; January 1, 2008; Gorbunov, V.N. Bogdanov, S.A.
Summary Exhibits and the Confrontation Clause: Looking beyond the Hearsay Rule for Evidentiary Implications of Crawford’s Progeny, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology; June 22, 2012; Basaria, Karim
Substance Users’ Perspectives on Helpful and Unhelpful Confrontation: Implications for Recovery, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs; June 1, 2012; Polcin, Douglas L. Mulia, Nina Jones, Laura
Massachusetts Paves the Way: A Comparison between the Confrontation Right Guaranteed by the United States and Massachusetts Constitutions in Light of Crawford V. Washington, Suffolk University Law Review; December 22, 2007; Brown, Elizabeth O.
How do residents of recovery houses experience confrontation between entry and 12-month follow-up?(Report), Journal of Psychoactive Drugs; March 1, 2010; Polcin, Douglas L. Galloway, Gantt P. Bond, Jason Korcha, Rachael Greenfield, Thomas K.
A Confrontation Guide for CIOs., Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter; August 7, 2001
Throwing Stones from within a Glass House: Why the Procedural Approach to Confrontation Fails to Remedy the Ills of the Indicia of Reliability Test, and an Argument for a Balanced Rule, Albany Law Review; September 22, 2008; Eddy, Gordon
Crawford’s Aftershock: Aligning the Regulation of Nontestimonial Hearsay with the History and Purposes of the Confrontation Clause, Stanford Law Review; March 1, 2008; Smith, Fred O., Jr.
Reconceptualizing Confrontation after Davis, Texas Law Review; December 1, 2006; Lininger, Tom
My Brother, My Witness against Me: The Constitutionality of the “Against Penal Interest” Hearsay Exception in Confrontation Clause Analysis, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology; March 22, 2000; Heisler, Sarah D.
Confrontation, Right of (Update), Encyclopedia of the American Constitution; January 1, 200
The Failures of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts and the Unstable Confrontation Clause, American Journal of Criminal Law; July 1, 2011; Eichner, Andrew W
Melendez-Diaz V. Massachusetts: Testing the Adaptation of the Confrontation Clause to Neutral Analysts and Developing Technology, South Dakota Law Review; June 22, 2011; Huss, Stacy R.
The Conundrum of Children, Confrontation, and Hearsay, Law and Contemporary Problems; January 1, 2002; Friedman, Richard D.
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