Thursday, February 5, 2009

If we give you the right to confront witnesses, can we put you in jail when you lose?

My absolute biggest pet peeve: Prosecutors who claim some right of confrontation. The state does not have a confrontation right! Seriously, folks, read the Constitution once in a while. The 6th Amendment says defendants have the right to confront their accusers. How can anyone read that to apply equally to the state? It doesn't.

What drives me craziest is when the judge or even the defense attorney accepts the state's claim. Grr! The only response any prosecutor should ever get when s/he whines, "What about the state's confrontation right?" should be, "The state has no right to confrontation."

The criminal justice system in practice is stacked in the state's favor enough. We don't really need to make it more so by applying the Bill of Rights to the state.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

That's really funny that a prosecutor would say that. How embarrassing.

S said...

It's not a rare occurrence. I hear that kind of comment a lot.

Unknown said...

What about a witness who says he can't turn over documents because their prejudicial effect will outweigh their probative value? That was my all-time fav.

S said...

But, Erin, that prosecutor really did get to make up his own rules! He was so above our silly little rules.

 
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