Silent Witness Rule
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Silent Witness Rule
The silent witness rule is the use of "substitutions" when referring to sensitive information in the United States open courtroom jury trial system. An example of a substitution method is the use of code-words on a "key card", to which witnesses and the jury would refer during the trial, but which the public would not have access to. The rule is an evidentiary doctrine that tries to balance the state secrets privilege with the bill of rights (especially the right of the accused to a public trial, and the right to due process). In practice the rule has been rarely used and was often challenged by judges and civil rights advocates. Its use remains controversial. Background The conflict between the open court and state secrets privilege goes back to at least 1802 and ''Marbury v. Madison''. Under the privilege, the government can dismiss any charges against it by claiming that important state secrets would be revealed at trial. In 1980 the Classified Information Procedures Act (C ...
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Rules Of Evidence
The law of evidence, also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision. The trier of fact is a judge in bench trials, or the jury in any cases involving a jury. The law of evidence is also concerned with the quantum (amount), quality, and type of proof needed to prevail in litigation. The rules vary depending upon whether the venue is a criminal court, civil court, or family court, and they vary by jurisdiction. The quantum of evidence is the amount of evidence needed; the quality of proof is how reliable such evidence should be considered. Important rules that govern admissibility concern hearsay, authentication, relevance, privilege, witnesses, opinions, expert testimony, identification and rules of physical evidence. There are various standards of evidence, standards showi ...
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Sixth Amendment To The United States Constitution
The Sixth Amendment (Amendment VI) to the United States Constitution sets forth rights related to criminal prosecutions. It was ratified in 1791 as part of the United States Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court has applied the protections of this amendment to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment grants criminal defendants the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury consisting of jurors from the state and district in which the crime was alleged to have been committed. Under the impartial jury requirement, jurors must be unbiased, and the jury must consist of a representative cross-section of the community. The right to a jury applies only to offenses in which the penalty is imprisonment for longer than six months. In ''Barker v. Wingo'', the Supreme Court articulated a balancing test to determine whether a defendant's right to a speedy trial had been violated. It has additionally held that the requirement of a pu ...
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United States Government Secrecy
The United States government classification system is established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic beginning in 1951. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the regulations codified to 32 C.F.R. 2001. It lays out the system of classification, declassification, and handling of national security information generated by the U.S. government and its employees and contractors, as well as information received from other governments. The desired degree of secrecy about such information is known as its sensitivity. Sensitivity is based upon a calculation of the damage to national security that the release of the information would cause. The United States has three levels of classification: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. Each level of classification indicates an increasing degree of sensitivity. Thus, if one holds a Top Secret security clear ...
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Federation Of American Scientists
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs. The Federation of American Scientists aims to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons that are in use, and prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism. They hope to present high standards for nuclear energy's safety and security, illuminate government secrecy practices, as well as track and eliminate the global illicit trade of conventional, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. With 100 sponsors, the Federation of American Scientists says that it promotes a safer and more secure world by developing and advancing solutions to important science and technology security policy problems by educating the public and policy makers, and promoting transparency through research and ana ...
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Public Trial
Public trial or open trial is a trial that is open to the public, as opposed to a secret trial. It should not be confused with a show trial. United States The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes the right of the accused to a public trial. The right to a public trial is strictly enforced, but is not absolute. Trials may in exceptional cases be regulated. Closures are decided case-by-case by the judge evaluating a claimed danger to a substantial or legitimate public interest. But whatever the interest at stake, the likelihood of danger to that interest must meet a "‘substantial probability’ test". Examples of cases presenting closure issues include organized crime cases (overall security concerns), rape cases (decency concerns), juvenile cases,Overview of the Sixth Amendment rights
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Totten V
Totten may refer to: Places * Totten (mountain), a mountain in Hemsedal, Norway * Fort Totten (other) * Totten Glacier, Antarctica * Totten Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington, United States * Totten Key, island in the Florida Keys, United States * Totten Prairie, Illinois, United States People * Alex Totten, Scottish football player and manager * Archibald W. O. Totten (1809–1867), Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court * Charles Adelle Lewis Totten, (1851–1908), American military officer, and influential early advocate of British Israelism * Donald L. Totten (1933–2019), an American politician and mechanical engineer * George Muirson Totten, (1809–1884), American civil engineer * George Oakley Totten Jr. (1866–1939), an American architect * Henry Totten (1824–1899), an American politician and businessman * Henry Roland Totten, (1892–1975), an American botanist * James Totten, (1818–1871), an officer in the Union Army and Missouri militia general during the A ...
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