(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is proposing a constitutional amendment to give judges authority to allow children to provide closed circuit testimony against an alleged abuser.
It’s a response to a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that said defendants have the right to confront their accusers in the courtroom. Bird says unless something changes, kids will be too scared to testify and abuse cases will get dropped.
The case overturned by the court’s ruling in June involved two 10-year-olds whose testimony was livestreamed into the courtroom, so they didn’t have to directly face their father, who was accused of beating their two year old brother.
