Maryland v. Craig (1989)
- Docket
- 89-478
- Decided
- 1989-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the closed-circuit testimony violate the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment? Conclusion: No. In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court held that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees criminal defendants face-to-face meetings with witnesses against them at trial, was not absolute. The Court found that "in certain narrow circumstances, 'competing interests, if closely examined, may warrant dispensing with confrontation at trial." The State's interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of children, the Court held, could be sufficiently important to outweigh defendants' rights to face their accusers in court.