Current Event Debate

This article talks about how the death penalty is declining in Texas due to rulings by the Supreme Court. The rulings limit what crimes may result in the death penalty, and who may be punished. For example, the Supreme Court ruled that anyone under the age of 18 may not receive the death penalty. This has had a big impact on the decline of the death penalty in Texas, because Texas used to lead the nation in sentencing minors to the death penalty prior to the ruling. The death penalty is in decline, but it is nowhere near being abolished in the Lone Star state.

Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/10/texas-death-penalty-executions/382057/

6th Amendment Current Event

The current event I selected deals with the sixth amendment, specifically the Confrontation Clause. A man named by Antonio Vaughn was convicted of dealing cocaine and maintaining a common nuisance. The charges result in a 40 year sentence. During the trial, videos, photographs, and recorded phone calls, along with statements used during the calls, were used as evidence. However, Mr. Vaughn claimed that the evidence was "inadmissable and highly prejudicial hearsay", and violated his sixth amendment right. He also claimed that because the confidential witness did not take the stand, it also violated his sixth amendment right. However, the Court of Appeals rejected the statements, saying that the "Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment does not prohibit “the use of testimonial statements for purposes other than establishing the truth of the matter asserted.”

http://www.theindianalawyer.com/admission-of-video-and-recorded-statements-did-not-violate-sixth-amendment/PARAMS/article/34645