These State laws provide special protection from psychological trauma for children by allowing the child to testify via closed-circuit television, by videotaped direct testimony, or from behind a screen. A 1982 Supreme Court decision has led to further judicial decisions and legislation to extent the greatest protection possible to children required to testify regarding sexual abuse. However, in the Coy decision the Court struck down a law permitting minor witnesses to testify from behind a one-way screen, holding that the law violated a defendant's confrontation rights. Thus, legislatures must be careful to guard the constitutional rights of defendants while protecting the interests of child witnesses. They can accomplish this goal by providing criteria for ad hoc determinations of psychological trauma resulting from testifying in open court or face-to-face with the defendant. 171 footnotes.