Season 3, Episode 27 (Show 131): Four Clauses, Two Juries

June 28, 2023

As Moore v. Harper is released, and we digest it in preparation for a forthcoming podcast, last week’s Samia v. US opinion is explained and placed in perspective.

It’s Supreme Court opinion season, and just before this week’s upload came the happy news of the Moore v. Harper decision.  We’ll be back with details on that soon enough, of course.  Prior to that, however, the Court issued some fascinating decisions last week, including in the case of Samia v. United States.  This confrontation clause/Sixth Amendment case happens to hit one of Professor Amar’s many sweet spots; he has written on the subject in numerous forums over years and is a true expert.  You will have a complex set of facts made legible, and a confusing set of key constitutional principles sculpted into an elegant formulation.

Show Notes:

Samia v. United States (2023)

I confess – he did it.  So says one defendant about another, and so begins the saga of Samia v. United States, with implications for the self-incrimination clause, the confrontation clause, the compulsory process clause, and even the treason clause.

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Sixth Amendment, First Principles (1996)

Professor Amar’s classic article, the Forward to the Georgetown Law Review, 84:641-712, 1996.  Pay particular attention to those pages on the Confrontation Clause, beginning on page 688.

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Confrontation Clause First Principles - A Reply to Professor Friedman

Professor Amar’s 1998 follow-up article in the Georgetown Law Review, commenting on Professor Friedman’s formulations on the Confrontation Clause.

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Joint Criminal Trials With Multiple Juries

The Florida Bar Journal in 1999 writes on the practice of “Multiple Juries: Why They Are Used And Suggested Ways To Implement Them.”

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