Besides attorneys, priests and doctors have a confidentiality obligation as well (don’t they). Do they all share the same rights? If I tell my doctor or priest about a robbery that I committed, must they keep it confidential?
Spousal confidentiality is optional, isn’t it? If the spouse wants to blab, he/she is free to do so, right?
I know that if you tell your attorney that you’re about to commit a murder, the attorney is obliged to break the confidentiality and report you. But does that apply to lesser crimes as well? If one tells their attorney that about a future drug purchase or political bribery, is the attorney still obligated to keep it confidential?
Yes and no. In the US communication between spouses is confidential and the party on trial can invoke that. A spouse may not repeat conversation. This right survives the marriage.
A spouse may, however, testify about things witnessed if s/he so wishes. S/he cannot be compelled to do so. I don’t believe this applies (at least in some states) in civil cases. I don’t believe this right survives the marriage.
It’s also retroactive, I believe.
A spouse can’t testify about conversations with their husband/wife, even if the conversations took place prior to their marriage.
Thus here in Minnesota, convicted fraudlent auto mogul Denny Hecker divorced his wife and then married his long-time mistress (over the phone) while serving time in prison. So that means she can not testify in court about where the money to support her lavish lifestyle is coming from since his bankruptcy. His creditors, the court, and the IRS would really like to know!
There are two distinguishable circumstances here. In one instance, say lawyer-client, doctor-patient and priest-parishioner the party receiving the communication in the professional capacity may not reveal that to third parties including in Judicial proceedings They are at the same time (the second circumstance), protected from being so compelled by Courts of law. (There are a myriad of exception which we will not go into with one exception see below)
Generally speaking, spousal only comes under the second heading, protection from being compelled. Generally, a spouse may be not be compelled to depose against (or for) their spouse, they generally are not prohibited from doing so. For example, IIRC (let a US lawyer correct me) under the Federal Rules of Evidence and also at 445 US 40.
I don’t think Doctors have any obligation to keep crimes confidential. They report crimes to the police all the time. They do have an obligation to keep your medical history confidential.
I don’t know if this applies to all states, but in New York their is no obligation to break confidentiality. The NY Rules of Professional Conduct have exceptions where an attorney may breaking confidentiality, but an attorney never has an obligation to break confidentiality.
In NY an attorney is allowed to break confidentiality to prevent their client from committing any “crime”. That means anything with a misdemeanor sentence or greater.
I my (hypothetical) 14yo daughter goes to her GP for contraceptive advice, he would be breaking the law if he subsequently told me. If she goes with unexplained bruises/broken bones, he would be obliged (but not legally obliged) to inform the authorities.
There is a move afoot here to make it a legal obligation for teachers, doctors, etc. to report suspicious circumstances like injuries or malnutrition.
I’m not a lawyer, but this is not what Wiki says, “Both the witness-spouse and the party-spouse hold the spousal communications privilege, so either may invoke it to prevent the other from testifying about a confidential communication made during marriage.” at Spousal privilege - Wikipedia
This agrees with what I said earlier, the defendant spouse has the right of prohibiting spousal communications. The right not to be called as a witness does belong to the spouse, they can testify if they choose to do so, but this would still be more rights than a doctor had. I believe a doctor can be compelled to take the stand. The doctor would then refuse to answer specific medical questions, but would have to answer, I presume, a question like “Did you see the defendant in the parking lot?”
Again, not a lawyer, but I believe this to be false. Privileged communication can only be done during a marriage. Wiki says, “The communications privilege begins on marriage, and cannot be invoked to protect confidential communications between now-married spouses which occurred prior to their marriage.” Spousal privilege - Wikipedia.
What Hecker and is now wife are relying on is that she cannot be compelled to testify against him (nor herself obviously). She could, if she wished, tell things he told her before they were married or about anything she witnessed.
Many, but not all, states have made special laws around reproductive medicine.
It gets you into some weird situations sometimes. A pregnant minor has the right to consent or refuse procedures done to her while she’s pregnant, including procedures that are done to the fetus. The second she delivers, she loses autonomy over her own care - that reverts to her parents or guardians - but she retains the right over her infant’s care until and unless her parental rights are severed by a court in an adoption process. So one minute she can sign a consent form for an epidural, and the next her parents have to sign a consent to treat form so she can get an antibiotic.
In every state that I know of (but I don’t know every state), teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, case managers, paramedics and others who come into contact with children in a licensed professional capacity are mandated reporters for both neglect and abuse, suspected or actual. Many states have also made us mandated reporters for senior neglect and abuse. If you’re middle aged, you’re SOL, apparently.
Where do you live? I know of no state in the US where a doctor is not legally obligated to report suspicion of abuse. I also thought it was the same in the UK/Aus/NZ. I’m quite startled.
I know as a teacher in both Oregon and Texas I was required to report any suspicion of abuse no matter how subtle or unsure of it I was, and to a specific reporting body directly, not to my local administration (lest they sweep it under the rug).
I know veterinarians in Oregon are under a similar law to report any suspicion of animal abuse to some sort of authority as well.
In other words, a patient can generally prevent their doctor from revealing things the patient said during examination, what medical conditions the doctor diagnosed, and what recommendations the doctor gave. In other words, the privilege can be used as a gag to “shut someone up”. If the doctor wants to voluntarily reveal that the patient came to him and confessed to being a drug addict who wanted help, the doctor would generally need to first get the patient’s permission.
The spousal privilege generally doesn’t work like that - Angry Husband can’t demand that the bailiff shove a sock in his wife’s mouth to prevent her from testifying against something the husband doesn’t want revealed but that the wife wants to reveal.