Judge Bianco & Purpura ’91 Discuss Sixth Amendment

US District Court Judge Joseph Bianco visited with cadets in the Advanced Constitutional Law seminar taught by the Department’s Constitutional Law Chair, Tony DiSarro. Judge Bianco was appointed to the federal bench in 2006. Prior to that, he headed the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice and the Terrorism Unit of the US Attorney's Office. Joining Judge Bianco was practicing lawyer, Michael Purpura ’91 a federal prosecutor and counsel at the White House. Judge Bianco and Mr. Purpura spoke with the cadets about the 6th Amendment right of a defendant to confront all witnesses against him. This right, which encompasses allowing defense counsel to cross-examine the witness, complicates terrorism prosecutions, as Judge Bianco and Mr. Purpura both explained. The cadets explored Confrontation Clause challenges in terrorism cases where key evidence comes from foreign law enforcement agents or domestic covert agents.