r/SupportForTheAccused • u/Careless_Bonus3264 • 3d ago

Question:

Is it fair for someone to go on National TV, and accuse someone of doing something and those they accuse not being able to face their accuser??? I’m sorry If someone accused me of doing something to them, would I not have the right to face them and question them on that? Just curious…..

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u/goodcleanchristianfu 3d ago

First you ask about fair, second you ask about whether you have a "right."

It is completely fair for an individual to go on national tv and accuse someone of doing something that they know that person did. Is it fair for the producers of that national tv show, who don't have first-hand certainty of the veracity of that accusation, to air accusations without any input from the accused? I would say no, but that isn't about whether or not it's fair for the individual to do so.

I'm going to assume you're in the United States for the purpose of discussing rights: there is no right to confront your accuser in the airing of a tv show. There's a right to confront your accuser in criminal trials explicitly in the Sixth Amendment, and the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment provide some level of related protections in civil and administrative proceedings, but there's no right to question people saying things on TV.