You can't accuse class action commentary or case law of ignoring the Due Process Clauses. But you can accuse them of selective attention. Commentary and cases have focused almost exclusively on the due process rights of absent class members. But class defendants are entitled to due process, too. And in countless briefs filed at the state and federal levels, class action defendants complain that trial courts are ignoring their due process right to a fair hearing.

This Article undertakes a historical examination of one version of this argument, which goes like this: In civil proceedings, due process guarantees defendants a right to mount a full defense based on presentation of any probative "rebuttal evidence" that they "choose." Trial courts, the argument goes, violate this right when they ration defendants' opportunities to offer evidence rebutting class claims.