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> Prohibit eyewitness testimony in court The Constitution* enshrines the right to face your accuser in open court. That to me seems proper; why do you propose

> Prohibit eyewitness testimony in court The Constitution* enshrines the right to face your accuser in open court. That to me seems proper; why do you propose to eliminate it (what gain do you expect)? If you want to eliminate that right, there is a process for amending the Constitution laid out in the document itself. * Technically, the Sixth Amendment.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
> The Constitution* enshrines the right to face your accuser in open court. Sure. They'll get to see the face. Of course, for the vast majority of crimes, the accuser is the state. > That to me seems proper; why do you propose to eliminate it Because we don't allow dream interpretation, tarot card readings, or other nonsense to be admitted as evidence either. You know how every few months you hear of some black man that has been in prison for rape for 30 years, until DNA evidence exonerates? Behind every one of those convictions there was some sobbing woman on the stands pointing a finger at him. Eyewitness testimony is junk of the lowest grade, below even those tarot cards I joked about. But yeh, they'll get to sit in the same courtroom with any accusers, we just won't let the accusers get up and make up bullshit that they believe are infallible memories. This isn't a constitutional issue. Legislation is absolutely permitted to set standards of evidence.
kmoser 3y ago
The problem isn't so much the admitting of eyewitness testimony, it's the weight given to it and, in your example, the addition of racism that leads to false convictions. As long as there is racism, there will be false convictions.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  No. As long as organic eyeballs and meat brains are involved, there will be false convictions. Human memory isn't video recording. Eyewitness testimony has to be rid of, or we're all just going to keep suffering for its inevitable, constant, and all too common failures.
  - kmoser 3y ago
    So you think video recording always shows the absolute truth and can never be misinterpreted? Any evidence can be misinterpreted. While I agree that eyewitness testimony has been shown to be nowhere near as reliable as most people think, it still has value.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

> The Constitution* enshrines the right to face your accuser in open court. Sure. They'll get to see the face. Of course, for the vast majority of crimes, the accuser is the state. > That to me seems proper; why do you propose to eliminate it Because we don't allow dream interpretation, tarot card readings, or other nonsense to be admitted as evidence either. You know how every few months you hear of some black man that has been in prison for rape for 30 years, until DNA evidence exonerates? Behind every one of those convictions there was some sobbing woman on the stands pointing a finger at him. Eyewitness testimony is junk of the lowest grade, below even those tarot cards I joked about. But yeh, they'll get to sit in the same courtroom with any accusers, we just won't let the accusers get up and make up bullshit that they believe are infallible memories. This isn't a constitutional issue. Legislation is absolutely permitted to set standards of evidence.

kmoser 3y ago

The problem isn't so much the admitting of eyewitness testimony, it's the weight given to it and, in your example, the addition of racism that leads to false convictions. As long as there is racism, there will be false convictions.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
No. As long as organic eyeballs and meat brains are involved, there will be false convictions. Human memory isn't video recording. Eyewitness testimony has to be rid of, or we're all just going to keep suffering for its inevitable, constant, and all too common failures.
- kmoser 3y ago
  So you think video recording always shows the absolute truth and can never be misinterpreted? Any evidence can be misinterpreted. While I agree that eyewitness testimony has been shown to be nowhere near as reliable as most people think, it still has value.