Crawford v. Washington, Revisited Confrontation Or Not, Dont Forget To Duck, Man

Abstract

Picture this: It’s Friday afternoon, the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday for those in retail.  You are relaxed and confident.  Your tenure application at the university has so far sailed through without a hitch.  It seems that all that publishing you have done has kept you from perishing, academically, that is.  A knock comes to your faculty office door, and two suits flashing tin enter.  They are from the Organized Commission for Reparations in Academic Plagiarism, otherwise known as: OCRAP.  A somewhat obscure quasi-federal agency set up under the Carter Administration, a visit from them often spells academic doom.  It seems that they have received a bevy of unsolicited e-mails accusing you of the academically unforgivable offence of using other researchers’ material without attribution.  You ask the key question: “WHO?”  Their response is that that information is confidential, and unavailable to you.  They serve you with a notice that a hearing will be held before Christmas, at the U. S. Courthouse, Foley Square, New York, N. Y.  Your first reaction is that you need to contact a lawyer.  Ironically, you quickly realize, that you are a lawyer.  Something in the back of your mind tells you that you have to have the ability to confront your accusers; something perhaps in the Constitution?  Maybe the time is ripe to go back and revisit the “confrontation” aspect of your present situation.