American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children in Support of Petitioner, Ohio v. Clark [Amicus Curiae Brief in the Supreme Court of the United States (merits)
| dc.contributor.author | Lyon, T. D. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-01-26T16:55:18Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-01-26T16:55:18Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
| dc.description.abstract | To protect children, all fifty states have passed mandatory-reporting statutes. These statutes require certain individuals — teachers, social workers, therapists, doctors, and, in many states, everyone — to report suspected maltreatment to government agencies, including child-protective services or the police. These statutes play a key role in protecting children. These statutes also raise important questions under the Confrontation Clause. The clause requires that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” The question in this case is whether a three-year-old’s disclosure of abuse to his preschool teacher was testimonial and thus inadmissible in a criminal prosecution. More broadly, the question in cases across the country is whether young children’s disclosures of maltreatment to mandatory reporters are testimonial. The clear answer to these questions is no. Children’s primary purpose in disclosing maltreatment is to protect themselves and other victims from further harm. Young children have little or no understanding of the criminal-justice process. They do not recognize that their disclosures to mandatory reporters can be used in trial or, for that matter, that their disclosures can lead to trial at all. For these reasons, the Court should conclude that young children’s disclosures of maltreatment to mandatory reporters are non-testimonial. (Auther Text) | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Lyon, T. D. (2014). American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children in Support of Petitioner, Ohio v. Clark (merits). | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1125&context=thomaslyon | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11212/2103 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.publisher | American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children | en_US |
| dc.subject | child abuse | en_US |
| dc.subject | disclosure | en_US |
| dc.subject | testimony | en_US |
| dc.subject | court case | en_US |
| dc.subject | law | en_US |
| dc.subject | mandatory reporting | en_US |
| dc.title | American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children in Support of Petitioner, Ohio v. Clark [Amicus Curiae Brief in the Supreme Court of the United States (merits) | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |