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Confrontation & Cross-Examination Resources

Resources on the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation and cross-examination. 



Cases  Law Review Articles  News Articles  Other Legal Sources  Videos


CASES

Confrontation

  • Williams v. Illinois, 567 U.S. 50 (2012)

  • Michigan v. Bryant, 562 U.S. 344 (2011)

  • Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305 (2009)

  • Giles v. California, 554 U.S. 353 (2008)

  • Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813 (2006)

  • Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004)


Cross-Examination

  • Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308 (1974)

  • Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 295 (1973) 


LAW REVIEW ARTICLES

  • William Ortman, Confrontation in the Age of Plea Bargaining, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 121, 2021.

  • Hamm, Andrew, Shifting Confrontation from Final Product to Forensic Process: Two Maryland Cases Demonstrate the Pitfalls of Justice Thomas’s Approach to What is Testimonial and the Need for a Re-Framed Formality Test (September 13, 2020). Forthcoming in the Criminal Law Bulletin, Vol. 57.

  • Mark Spottswood, Truth, Lies, and the Confrontation Clause, 89 U. Colo. L. Rev 566 (2018).

  • Stephanos Bibas, The Limits of Textualism in Interpreting the Confrontation Clause, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, no. 37 (2014).

  • Sanders, Shaakirrah, Unbranding Confrontation as Only a Trial Right (October 4, 2013). 65 Hastings L. J. 1257 (2014).

  • Christine Holst, The Confrontation Clause and Pretrial Hearings: A Due Process Solution, 2010 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1599 (2010).

  • Tokson, Matthew J., Virtual Confrontation: Is Videoconference Testimony by an Unavailable Witness Constitutional? (June 11, 2007). University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 74, No. 4, 2007.

  • Friedman, Richard D. "Remote Testimony." U. Mich. J. L. Reform 35, no. 4 (2002): 695-717 


OTHER LEGAL SOURCES

  • How Video Changes the Conversation: Social Science Research on Communication Over Video and Implications for the Criminal Courtroom (NLADA, CCI 2021).

  • Right to Confront Adverse Witnesses: Current Doctrine 


NEWS ARTICLES

  • Defending The Right To Confrontation In Virtual Criminal Trials, By Michelle Bradford and David Frazee, Law360.com, October 1, 2020.

  • Covid-19's Next Victim? The Rights of the Accused. (NACDL, 2020).

  • How Litigators Are Confronting COVID in the Courtroom, By Norma Izzo, American Bar Association, August 31, 2020. 


VIDEOS AND WEBINARS

The Confrontation Clause: Crawford v. Washington

The Confrontation Clause: Crawford v. Washington

The Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause gives the accused the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him” at a criminal trial. This film uses the Supreme Court case Crawford v. Washington to help explain the history and importance of the confrontation clause and why the framers knew it would be crucial to an effective system of justice.”


Confrontation of Witnesses - The Basics

Confrontation of Witnesses - The Basics

Criminal Procedure video dealing with Crawford v. Washington and its reading of the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause. The lecture covers the basic holding and reasoning, and briefly previews its application in two high-volume contexts.


The Right to Face Your Accuser: Child Abuse and the Sixth Amendment

The Right to Face Your Accuser: Child Abuse and the Sixth Amendment

Should the Confrontation Clause limit the admissibility of children's statements to mandatory child abuse reporters? Richard Friedman (University of Michigan Law School) and Thomas Lyon (USC Gould School of Law) will discuss alternative perspectives on the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. The Confrontation Clause typically guarantees citizens the right to face their accusers. The unique circumstances of child abuse raised in Ohio v. Clark perhaps require deeper consideration.

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Strengthening the Sixth


The Center for Justice Innovation is a training and technical assistance provider to the Bureau of Justice Assistance through the Justice for All program. The Center for Justice Innovation (the Center) and its partner are managing, enhancing, and expanding the Strengthening the Sixth website. For more information about the Center, visit www.innovatingjustice.org. The Strengthening the Sixth Website is supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-22-GK-01567-JAGJ awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office of Victims of Crimes, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions on this website do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse this website, including, without limitations, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided.