NCJ Number
123004
Journal
Vanderbilt Law Review Volume: 42 Issue: 5 Dated: (October 1989) Pages: 1511-1534
Date Published
1989
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Coy v. Iowa concludes that the decision was not justified under existing case law and that it may result in the overturning of laws designed to protect child victims of sexual abuse from trauma during testimony at trial.
Abstract
These State laws provide special protection from psychological trauma for children by allowing the child to testify via closed-circuit television, by videotaped direct testimony, or from behind a screen. A 1982 Supreme Court decision has led to further judicial decisions and legislation to extent the greatest protection possible to children required to testify regarding sexual abuse. However, in the Coy decision the Court struck down a law permitting minor witnesses to testify from behind a one-way screen, holding that the law violated a defendant's confrontation rights. Thus, legislatures must be careful to guard the constitutional rights of defendants while protecting the interests of child witnesses. They can accomplish this goal by providing criteria for ad hoc determinations of psychological trauma resulting from testifying in open court or face-to-face with the defendant. 171 footnotes.