The Confrontation Clause, the Right against Self-Incrimination and the Supreme Court: A Critique and Some Modest Proposals

Authors

David E. Seidelson

Abstract

The impact of Supreme Court decisions on fifth and sixth amendment rights of the accused criminal is the subject of Professor Seidelson's most recent quest into the field of constitutional law. Using the Court's most recent decision on the sixth amendment confrontation clause as a vehicle, he examines the development of the clause over the past two decades and concludes that the Court's decisions have rendered the clause virtually coextensive with the hearsay rule. In a second part of the article Professor Seidelson discusses the effect of the Court's refusal to include physical evidence within the scope of the fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, illuminating the problems and difficulties to which this approach may give rise. The article concludes with suggestions for restoring the fifth and sixth amendment rights to an interpretation that is closer to that which the author believes was originally intended.

First Page

429

Recommended Citation

David E. Seidelson, The Confrontation Clause, the Right against Self-Incrimination and the Supreme Court: A Critique and Some Modest Proposals, 20 Duq. L. Rev. 429 (1982).
Available at: https://dsc.duq.edu/dlr/vol20/iss3/4