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As an aside, I think this is the first time in a while I read 'un-American' and didn't roll my eyes, even though I don't actually know if being able to face you
by cobrausn 13y ago
As an aside, I think this is the first time in a while I read 'un-American' and didn't roll my eyes, even though I don't actually know if being able to face your accuser in court is actually an American original idea.
- bcRIPster 13y agoAs I understand it, the concept is derived from the Magna Carta in that the spirit of facing ones accuser is in line with the concept of being told what you are being charged with in a complaint.
- s_q_b 13y agoIt actually goes all the way back to common law and the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, and was later enshrined in the Sixth Amendment. During the trial of Sir Raleigh, the prosecution moved affidavits for its witnesses into evidence, without giving the accused the right to cross-examine those that had made the affidavits. Raleigh, conducting his own defense, objected on the grounds of hearsay. He was overruled, since the prosecution anticipating this attack brought the prosecution under Norman civil law, which allows for hearsay. It was a large scandal at the time, an emblem of the state exerting arbitrary power. It marked legal thinking for generations, eventually leading to the American Sixth Amendment.
- visarga 13y agoThe history of the Amendments is fascinating. I've had a good Wikipedia read.
- s_q_b 13y agoIt really is. When you look into the history, you realize that most of the Amendments arose from specific abuses of the law by the British state, and are really an attempt to permanently protect rights that already existed at common law.
- andrewflnr 13y agoIt doesn't have to be originally American for Americans to embrace it. I daresay it's an idea that has passed through the head of anyone at a trial where they don't have that right.