Remaking Confrontation Clause and Hearsay Doctrine Under the Challenge of Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions

Date

1993

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Illinois Law Review

Abstract

In this article, Professor Mosteller examines the two sets of developments in the prosecution of child sexual abuse: (1) statutory innovations in types of hearsay evidence admissible, methods of presenting testimony, and competency provisions, and (2) recent major reformulations of Confrontation Clause analysis. He suggests that the current analysis which treats trustworthiness as the articulated goal of the Confrontation Clause, abandoning the procedural elements of the right of confrontation, loses the intent central to the Framer’s design to protect the defendant against the introduction of evidence produced under inquisitorial techniques. Professor Mosteller proposes that the current analysis, coupled with the erosion of requirements for admission of hearsay evidence, will leave the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation a hollow formalism and allow admission of statements where meaningful cross-examination is not practically possible. He argues that the scope of the Confrontation Clause should be narrowed and that its protections within a core area should be sharply invigorated. (Author Abstract)

Description

Keywords

child abuse, child sexual abuse, law, court, testimony

Citation

Mosteller, R. P. (1993). Remaking Confrontation Clause and Hearsay Doctrine Under the Challenge of Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions. University of Illinois Law Review, 1993(4), 691-807.

DOI