Confrontation Clause? Rape shield laws? Someone please explain/discuss.

smellycow · 2009-08-05T03:11:49+00:00

Yes and No. In states that have "rape shield" statutes, the criminally accused still have a right to "confront" witnesses. Essentially, that means that they have the right to ask that person questions, in court, in front of them (literally confront them face to face). What the rape shield statutes do, is restrict questions about prior sexual behavior by the alleged victim. Basically, it removes the defense of "she was a slut." Many states still allow questions about the victim's past behaviors with that particular alleged perpetrator, and some still allow questions about the victim's prior allegations of sexual assault if they were found to be falsified.

And yes, it does represent a what legislatures have found to be a balance between the rights of the accused and the victims. They feel that this "shield" of not talking about a victim's past sexual behavior will encourage victims to come forward without the fear of being victimized again on the stand.

On the other hand, the accused share similar "shields." For example, prior bad acts (e.g. evidence of crimes whether convicted or not ) by the accused are not allowed in all cases either.

So, does it make it right? I don't know. I think in general people should be tried on the merits of that particular case. Sometimes when information or testimony becomes too tangential to the case at hand, but could nonetheless have a big effect on the judge or jury, it is inadmissable. In legal speak, a judge always has the discretion to declare evidence inadmissable when its probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. With the case of rape shields, they simply serve to frame this question in a more universal manner.

Confrontation Clause? Rape shield laws? Someone please explain/discuss.

I just read this post on the main Reddit page: http://prorev.com/2009/07/court-discovers-sixth-amendment.html . Basically it's about a person who got off of conviction because the witness against him didn't appear in court. Here is a quote from the article:

"The reversals hinge on an important constitutional issue stemming from eight words tucked in the Sixth Amendment known as the Confrontation Clause. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused has the right "to be confronted with the witnesses against him."

Comments

Title	Confrontation Clause? Rape shield laws? Someone please explain/discuss.
Author	etherspirit
Upvotes	11
Comments	2
Date	August 5, 2009 12:37 AM UTC (17 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/97l7u/confrontation_clause_rape_shield_laws_someone/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/confrontation-clause-rape-shield-laws-someone.1053400 https://theredarchive.com/post/1053400