Applying Crawford's Confrontation Right in a Digital Age

Abstract

Much of the recent commentary on the Confrontation Clause focuses on the past. Commentators (and Supreme Court Justices) evaluate the evolving jurisprudence by comparing the confrontation right articulated in Crawford v. Washington and its progeny to the right that existed in 1791. This Symposium Essay shifts the focus to the future, exploring how the Supreme Court’s new Confrontation Clause jurisprudence will operate in a world where communication is increasingly informal and electronic.

Keywords: confrontation, Crawford, Bryant, Facebook, Twitter, texting, social media, Sixth Amendment, Raleigh