[Opinion] Alito and Gorsuch call for court to reconsider confrontation clause precedent - SCOTUSblog

Alito and Gorsuch call for court to reconsider confrontation clause precedent - SCOTUSblog

ShareThe Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause gives defendants in criminal cases the right to “be confronted with the witnesses against” them. The Supreme Court on Monday morning declined to decide when a statement that is made out of court to an agency responsible for making bail recommendations is the kind of “testimonial” statement to which the Sixth Amendment applies. However, two justices – Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – suggested that t…

Justices Alito and Gorsuch Would Like to Reconsider Crawford

The Supreme Court did not grant certiorari in any cases this morning, but Justices Alito and Gorsuch both suggested it may be time to grant a case to reconsider aspects of the Court's Confrontation Clause jurisprudence, Justice Scalia's opinion for a unanimous Court in Crawford v. Washington in particular. Both Justices Alito and Gorsuch issued separate opinions respecting the denial of certiorari in Franklin v. New York. From Justice Alito's op…

At least two justices on US Supreme Court believe it is high time to rethink Confrontation Clause jurisprudence

In their dissents from an order denying cert, two justices leave a trail of breadcrumbs for litigators frustrated by the discordant state of the law with respect to the Constitution’s Confrontation Clause. As we saw last month, in a written order that seemingly invited litigation as to whether warrantless misdemeanor arrests are permitted under the [...]

In lengthy statements, Justices Alito and Gorsuch take issue with (modern, originalist?) Confrontation Clause jurisprudence

In the (decidedly non-originalist) opinion in Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241 (1949), the Supreme Court rejected arguments that a defendant had a right to confront witnesses whose testimony was used against him by a judge at sentencing.  The textual and historical basis for this ruling has never seemed especially solid, as evidenced by law review articles here and here.  And yet, courts continue to state and hold that “a sentencing court is ……