The hearsay decisionmaking environment: An analysis of the categorical and principled approaches to the hearsay rule

The hearsay decisionmaking environment, is an attempt to resolve an inconsistency in hearsay adjudication. It has long been recognized that the hearsay rule is applied inconsistently. Sometimes the categorical approach is employed to analyze hearsay evidence and, other times, the principled approach is used. The primary problem is that choosing between either approaches will yield different and often conflicting results.;By referring to the work of Frederick Schauer on the nature of legal rules in directing choices made by decisionmakers, the thesis locates the source of the inconsistency at the decisionmaking environment. It is not the choice between the categorical and principled approaches that causes the inconsistency, but judges' conceptions of their power in rendering decisions which are bounded by a rule of law. As such, reconciling the inconsistency in hearsay adjudication involves defining the jurisdiction of decisionmakers.