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Abused Children Should Confront Abusers in Court (From Child Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints, P 203-211, 1994, David Bender and Bruno Leone, eds. -- See NCJ-159823)

NCJ Number
159847
Author(s)
R H King Jr
Date Published
1994
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Although the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that defendants do not always have the right to directly confront their accusers in court, the author argues that children who make accusations of abuse must face the accused in court.
Abstract
The Confrontation Clause of the sixth amendment guarantees the right of defendants to face their accusers. At the same time, the child has certain rights and child molestation is one of the most difficult crimes to detect and prosecute because the child victim is often the only witness. Studies suggest that a child victimized by abuse is traumatized further when required to testify during the prosecution of the alleged molester. Two U.S. Supreme Court cases are described, Coy v. Iowa and Maryland v. Craig, that concern the right of defendants to confront child witnesses. The author believes the Confrontation Clause must prevail so that constitutional rights of the defendant are not compromised. These rights include the right to confront witnesses, the presumption of innocence, and the due process right to a fair trial. 1 figure