Easing child’s trauma
Few moments in a courtroom are as dramatic or as heart wrenching as watching a child, seated at the witness stand, struggle with conflicting emotions. Imagine how difficult it is for a child who was molested by a father, and who has not seen her daddy since he was arrested and placed in jail, walking into a courtroom and seeing him. Daddy might have done a bad thing but that doesn’t keep a child from reaching for him. At the same time, the child must sit just a feet away and tell a room full of strangers what daddy did that was so bad.
Some children are so traumatized that they can’t give coherent testimony that is vital to convicting an adult accused of physically harming them.
That is why it is so important that a proposed amendment to Pennsylvania’s Constitution be adopted.
Pennsylvania lawmakers since 1986 have wanted to ease the trauma of open court testimony by allowing children, who a judge determines will be severely traumatized, to give testimony through either a video deposition or through closed-circuit television. Defense attorneys can still ask the same questions.
The state Supreme Court ruled the General Assembly couldn’t on its own change the right guaranteed under Pennsylvania’s Constitution for defendants to confront their accusers “face to face.”
So lawmakers tried again, placing the notion before voters, who agreed that in some cases the interests of justice are best served if a child is questioned outside the presence of an alleged abuser. But the courts found the wording of the amendment actually posed two questions.
This go around the General Assembly is proposing to place two questions before voters. The first would replace “face to face” language with a defendant’s right “to be confronted with witnesses against him.” The second would permit lawmakers to establish the manner that youthful victims and witnesses can testify.
The state Senate this week unanimously passed a measure to place the questions on the ballot. If the House acts quickly, the questions can appear as early as the May primary. The last time voters were asked, they overwhelmingly approved. We don’t expect this to change, especially since fears that it would be overused and abused have been proven groundless.
While Pennsylvania has labored on this, 37 other states have authorized either closed-circuit television or video depositions. They are seldom used. But it is important that the option be available to lessen the trauma for the most fragile of victims.