Amend Federal Rules of Evidence

The House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary has posted  a version with the December 2010 amendments: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/111th/evid2010.pdf

The Rules need to be amended as follows:

Rule 401. Definition of ‘‘Relevant Evidence’’,  to read as follows:

 ‘‘Relevant evidence’’ means (1) evidence having any tendency to
make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the deter-
mination of the action more probable or less probable than it
would be without the evidence; or (2) evidence of what is or is not
the law applicable to the case, including the text of constitutional
provisions, statutes, or court precedents; or (3) evidence of official
misconduct that might adversely affect the rights of any parties to
the case.


Rule 1003. Admissibility of Duplicates, to read as follows:

  A duplicate is admissible to the same extent as an original un-
less (1) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the
original; or (2) in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit
the duplicate in lieu of the original; or (3) it is a debt instrument
for which each originally signed document is a separate obligation.



Write your members of Congress asking them to amend the Rules as shown above.