- Amendments have been proposed since 1978.Legal Law Justice image by Stacey Alexander from Fotolia.com
The Rules Enabling Act provides the United States Supreme Court with the express authority to prescribe the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Federal Rules of Evidence, which were enacted in 1975, determine evidence protocol, such as what type of evidence is admissible, during trial. All federal courts adhere to the provision in the Federal Rules of Evidence. Substantial changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence have been amended over the years. - Due to the contemporary Watergate scandal, there was much debate around the original provisions set forth in the Federal Rules of Evidence, particularly with respect to prior inconsistent statements, privileges and impeachment. For example, the scope of rule 801(d)(1)(A), which deals with prior inconsistent statements, was limited only to statements that were made under oath or before a grand jury rather than including any prior statement. Similarly, the majority of the privileges set forth in rule 501 were removed. Additionally, rule 609(a) limited impeachment by conviction by requiring the impeaching conviction to be one involving dishonesty.
- The first major amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence took place on Oct. 1, 1987 when more than 30 rules were changed. Several of those rules were amended again on Nov. 1, 1988. The most recent amendments took place on Dec.1, 2006.
- In 2010, an amendment to rule 804(b)(3) was proposed. If adopted, this amendment would apply the corroborating circumstances requirement to all statements made by a person that are against his interest and are being offered as evidence in criminal cases. This amendment would, in effect, require a statement to be corroborated by circumstances that indicate the statement is trustworthy and not induced or otherwise not genuine. Additionally, there is a 2011 pending amendment to restyle the language of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
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