PENNSYLVANIA Proposed amendments affect children's rights as witnesses

Court rulings say children must testify in open court against criminal defendants.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- Pennsylvania voters are being asked to approve a pair of state constitutional amendments that will make it easier for children to testify as witnesses in criminal proceedings.
The first would change the "face-to-face" right of criminal defendants to meet their accusers in court, while the second would allow the state to set rules allowing children to testify via videotape or closed-circuit television.
Prosecutors say the change would allow traumatized or scared children, particularly victims of sexual assault or other violent crimes, to be witnesses without having to sit in a courtroom with the defendant.
Section 9 of Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution gives criminal defendants the right "to meet the witnesses face to face," and the proposed amendment would change that phrase to read "to be confronted with the witnesses against him."
The United States Constitution gives an accused person the right to "be confronted with the witnesses against him."
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that laws permitting children to testify in criminal proceedings by videotape or closed-circuit television violate the Pennsylvania Constitution because they deny accused persons the right to confront witnesses "face to face."
Proposed changes
The proposed amendment would continue to guarantee accused persons the right to confront the witnesses against them, just as the U.S. Constitution does.
The change would clear the way for the state's General Assembly to enact laws or the Pennsylvania Supreme court to adopt rules that permit children to testify in criminal proceedings outside the physical presence of the accused person.
The second amendment would specifically give the General Assembly the authority to enact such legislation, allowing children to testify by videotaped deposition or closed-circuit television.
The Pennsylvania Constitution gives only the Pennsylvania Supreme Court the authority to make rules governing court procedure. The amendment would change that but only in regards to how children can testify in criminal proceedings.
The General Assembly passed both proposed amendments in 2002 and again in 2003, and the issue now goes before the voters, whose decision will be final.
The questions, as they appear on the ballot, read:
AMENDMENT 1: Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to provide that a person accused of a crime has the right to be "confronted with the witnesses against him," instead of the right to "meet the witnesses face to face?"
AMENDMENT 2: Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to provide that the General Assembly may enact laws regarding the manner by which children may testify in criminal proceedings, including the use of videotaped depositions or testimony by closed-circuit television?