Talk:Jane Roe and Richard Roe

Hey, what is this all about??? Common Law says that we have the right to face our accusers; all of them. So how is it that Richard Roe is the name of an "unnamed plaintiff"???


 * Anonymity is used to sheild the litigant's identity from the public, not from the defendent. For example, the defendent in Roe v. Wade was Wade County. -- MiguelMunoz 08:03, 14 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The Wade was NOT Wade county. It was Henry Wade, the District Attorney of Dallas County. If you go to the article on Roe vs Wade it would tell you that. Henry Wade also has the claim to fame of being involved with the Jack Ruby trial for the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald as I believe it. Please research facts before posting information.--Kirkoconnell 23:04, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Why the use of "Roe" and "Doe"?
To the question why use such names when you have to face your accusor, the answer is simple.

In cases where the plantif or defendant are either unknown or would face undue public or crimial backlash, the names are changed to protect them.

Mostly for Doe's, a co-defendant could be charged with a crime and their identity may not be known and ergo the government is forced to refer to them by the name Doe.

As for Roe, plantifs can also be unknown, like in video cases where someone is burnt alive. They may not be identified but if a crime is witnessed they can be listed, but in most of these case the government would be the plantif anyway.

Roe is mostly to protect people from blacklash, as was the case for Roe vs Wade. If the identity was known at the time, death threats and possible attacks would have surely endangered Jane's life and therefore ruin any case. --Kirkoconnell 18:41, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Accuracy?
I had always read that, in Roe v Wade, they used the name "Jane Roe" not because she was a plaintiff, but because there was already another active case in the works with an anonymous litigant known as "Jane Doe." Does anybody have more info? -- MiguelMunoz 08:03, 14 August 2006 (UTC)