Hastings International and Comparative Law Review Volume 32 Article 7 Number 1 Winter 2009 1-1-2009 The Right to a Fair Trial and the Confrontation Clause: Overruling Crawford to Rebalance the U.S. Criminal Justice Equilibrium Lindsay Hoopes Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_international_comparative_law_review Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Lindsay Hoopes, The Right to a Fair Trial and the Confrontation Clause: Overruling Crawford to Rebalance the U.S. Criminal Justice Equilibrium, 32 Hastings Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 305 (2009). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_international_comparative_law_review/vol32/iss1/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Right to a Fair Trial and the Confrontation Clause: Overruling Crawfordto Rebalance the U.S. Criminal Justice Equilibrium ByLINDSAY HoOPES* I. Introduction The right to a fair trial is the linchpin of the criminal justice system. The right protects individuals from arbitrary and unlawful deprivation of basic rights and freedoms - most importantly, life and liberty. The United Nations describes the right as an "inalienable right of all members of the human family," a "foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world," and a "fundamental" guarantee of human rights and preservation of the rule of law.1 The right to a fair trial transcends differences in legal systems.