Weights of Confession

Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess

There was a time, not so long ago, when people understood that certain human relationships are more important than civil law. I am not talking here about “attorney-client privilege,” which is a procedural ground rule to make the position of attorney possible and to ensure that the counsel you hire is yours and not someone else’s in your place. We move closer to the point with “doctor-patient privilege,” though what’s at stake there is not the relationship itself but the care of the body, which would be put in jeopardy if people had to fear that they would set themselves up for legal or financial attack when they call the doctor. We hit the mark precisely with the rule that a wife may not be compelled...