萨克拉门托一名州立教育教授呼吁联邦立法保护受害儿童免受选择出庭辩护的被告的盘问。
教授Sue Hobbs和她的写作伙伴Gail 去odman认为，允许被告直接盘问他或她所谓的受害者可能会给孩子带来再次的精神创伤，并造成长期的心理伤害。
The article by Hobbs, an assistant professor of child development, and 去odman, a UC Davis professor of psychology, was published Oct. 18 in the 国际儿童虐待杂志.
在文章中，他们写道，在被告为自己辩护的案件中，使用中间人对儿童受害者进行盘问应该是标准做法。
“When children have to appear in court, both as victims and as witnesses, the two most frightening parts are seeing the defendant and cross-examination," Hobbs said. "So, having them endure cross-examination by the defendant can cause additional undue harm to child victims.”
Intermediaries are available in the United States’ court system, but their use is at the judge's discretion, and the burden is on the prosecution to prove they are necessary. Hobbs and 去odman argue, instead, that the burden should be placed on the defense to prove the defendant’s right to directly confront an alleged victim overrides any potential harm to the victim.
霍布斯说，强迫一个孩子接受被指控的攻击者或施虐者的盘问有多重风险。 The experience, as she and 去odman write in the paper, “can force the (child) not only to relive the trauma, but also to experience continued negative emotions associated with the trauma, such as anger, fear, humiliation, and powerlessness.”
这可能会削弱他们对刑事司法系统的信心，使他们不太可能举报犯罪。 此外，被告可以利用交叉询问以法官或陪审团无法察觉的方式对儿童造成额外的伤害或威胁。
儿童发展助理教授苏·霍布斯呼吁制定新的立法来保护法庭上的儿童证人。然而，作者的担忧超出了对儿童的影响，而是直接触及了法律制度的核心。 研究表明，极端的压力，比如来自敌意盘问的压力，会降低孩子准确回忆事件的能力。 霍布斯和古德曼认为，使用中立的中介机构可以帮助缓解这种压力。
“It would benefit the factfinders of the court to have an intermediary cross-examine the child if they want to get to the truth,” Hobbs said.
霍布斯和古德曼在2016年首次参与这个问题，当时亚利桑那州的前幼儿园老师克里斯托弗·西姆考克斯被判两项猥亵罪和一项向未成年人提供淫秽物品罪。 西姆考克斯在审判中为自己辩护，并坚持交叉询问他所谓的儿童受害者。
霍布斯和古德曼准备了专家证词，辩称西姆考克斯的交叉盘问会伤害孩子们，但多个法院都做出了有利于西姆考克斯的裁决。 （最终，当检察官和儿童权益倡导者准备向美国最高法院提起上诉时，西姆科克斯放弃了他的计划。）
西姆考克斯案的结果是，参议员杰夫·弗莱克（Jeff Flake）和黛安·范斯坦（Dianne Feinstein）发起了一项法案，以防止代表自己的被控儿童性骚扰者对受害者进行盘问。 该法案在国会被否决了。
其他有对抗性法庭制度的国家允许被告为自己辩护，尽管许多国家对儿童受害者和证人作出规定，以保护他们免受被告的盘问。 然而，在美国，这种做法是允许的，以满足第六修正案的保证，即被告可以与证人对质。
The proposal outlined in the article, Hobbs argues, continues to allow defendants to confront their accusers – albeit through an intermediary – thus keeping with the spirit of the Sixth Amendment.
"You don’t want to overlook the rights of the child victim or the witness when you’re looking out for the defendant,” Hobbs said. “You need to balance the rights of everyone involved, and I believe we can do that.”
The article, “自我辩护：自辩盘问和重访儿童证人的创伤,” can be read online in the 国际儿童虐待杂志. – 乔纳森·莫拉莱斯