GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2007

Status

Accepted

Abstract

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution bars some hearsay from being introduced against criminal defendants on the ground that it would violate their right to confront the witnesses against them. In a recent series of decisions - Crawford, Davis and Bockting - the U.S. Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the Confrontation Clause by interpreting it to govern only testimonial hearsay. This article criticizes the analysis and process by which the Court reached its conclusion that the Confrontation Clause has no application to nontestimonial hearsay and raises questions of history and policy about the possible dangers of admitting such hearsay against criminal defendants without any Sixth Amendment limitations.

GW Paper Series

GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 263; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 263

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