My Legal Hero Wins Another One

Congratulations are in order (again!) for attorney Jeff Fisher, who won yet another case in the Supreme Court of the United States. The high court handed down its opinion today in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, ruling that lab reports are testimonial under the Confrontation Clause. Despite the fact that the decision was pretty clear under the Court's holdings in Crawford and Davis, the Court took over seven months to issue a decision, waiting until the conclusion of this term.

Which leaves one to ponder - what the heck took so long to issue this opinion? After the Crawford decision, which basically held that the Sixth Amendment actually means what it says (you have the right to be confronted with the witnesses against you), the question of whether you can have trial by affidavit in a drug case is a no-brainer. I suspect the practical effect of the decision was part of the reason it took so long to utter it - this means the State will actually have to call witnesses and prove its case. Shocking. Horrendous. And constitutionally required (pesky constitution!).

Jeff Fisher is one of my legal heroes. By age 33 he had argued and won two of the most groundbreaking criminal procedure cases to come along in a while, Crawford and Blakely. I met him at a conference once. I got to shake his hand. I got to tell him he was my legal hero. And I got to hear him laugh at me (not in a mean way - in addition to being an amazing lawyer he's also a nice guy). Hats off to him for continuing to shape confrontation law in a way that remains true to the spirit and purpose of the Sixth Amendment.