Home > Great American Court Cases > Davis v. Alaska

Legal Citation: 415 U.S. 308 (1974)

Petitioner
Joshaway Davis

Respondent
State of Alaska

Petitioner's Claim
By being prohibited from cross-examining a prosecution witness regarding the witness's status as a juvenile offender (under a state law protecting the anonymity of juvenile offenders), petitioner was denied his right to confront witnesses under the Sixth (and Fourteenth) Amendments.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
Robert H. Wagstaff

Chief Lawyer for Respondent
Charles M. Merriner

Justices for the Court
Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Warren E. Burger (writing for the Court), William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Potter Stewart

Justices Dissenting
William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
27 February...