Reconceiving the Right to Present Witnesses

Abstract

INTRODUCTION 1064 I. THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE 1072 A. From Compulsion to Admissibility . ......... 1072 B. From Equality to Exception .. . 1075 1. Discriminatory Rules 1075 2. Generally Applicable Rules 1080 C. The Arbitrariness of an Arbitrary or Disproportionate Standard . . 1088 1. The Court on Its Own Terms 1089 2. Exceptions and Floodgates 1098 II. FROM EXCEPTION TO EQUALITY 1108 A. Historical Context 1110 1. Textual Forerunners 1110 2. Contemporaneous Evidence Law 1113 3. The First Congress 1117 B. The Confrontation Clause ... ... 1118 C. Institutional Structure and Related Constitutional Compartments 1124 1. Structuring the Making of Rules 1124 2. Exceptions and Equality Elsewhere ........ 1134 D. Protecting Defendants in Practical Terms....... 1137 III. IMPLICATIONS 1141 A. The Case Law Reconsidered 1141 B. Equal Treatment and the Federal Rules of Evidence 1146 1. Rule 804(b)(3) 1146 2. Rule 412 1148 CONCLUSION 1151