Are statements of child to teacher testimonial?

This wikilog article is a draft, it was not published yet.

by: Ryan • November 19, 2014 • no comments

In August, I wrote about a petition for cert on the confrontation clause that raised the following questions:

(1) Whether an individual’s obligation to report suspected child abuse makes that individual an agent of law enforcement for purposes of the Confrontation Clause; and (2) whether a child’s out-of-court statements to a teacher in response to the teacher’s concerns about potential child abuse qualify as “testimonial” statements subject to the Confrontation Clause.

Somehow I missed it, but SCOTUS actually granted cert in October. Here's a discussion of the case.

You may also find the back-and-forth in the comments here quite worthwhile.

And for some real intellectual heavy-lifting on the topic of very young child witnesses, see this post at the Confrontation Blog.

And yes, depending on how the court rules, you might be a state actor!