The American legal system, like most legal systems, relies heavily on the testimony of witnesses. Juries rely on witness testimony to reach verdicts in criminal and civil trials; grand juries rely on witness testimony to investigate crimes and to bring criminal charges; Congress relies on witness testimony in its legislative hearings; and a wide range of administrative agencies rely on witness testimony in making both policy decisions and rulings in specific matters. The decisions of each of these bodies are only as reliable as the witnesses appearing before them. The law making perjury a crime is one effort to encourage witnesses to be truthful.
MICHAEL A. SIMONS
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