Testimony
in Court
Psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers may be asked to provide testimony in court. During court proceedings, the privacy of their clients is protected through privileged communication statutes. These statutes protect "the client's confidential communications from being disclosed in a court of law" (Davis & Ritchie, 1993, p. 24).
At the federal level, this protection of privileged communication was upheld in the 1996 case of Jaffee, Special Administrator for Allen, Deceased v. Redmond et al. The case did allow some exception to this protection. Confidentiality may be breached if the interests of justice outweigh the patient's privacy interests.
There is strong public and state-level support for observance of privileged communication protection. Although exact provisions vary, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws governing privileged communication between mental health providers and their patients (Legal Information Institute & Project Hermes, 1997).
