Judges As "Amateur Scientists"
Judges As "Amateur Scientists"
Judges As "Amateur Scientists"
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1207
I. J UDGES (A.K.A. LAWYERS) AND THEIR COMPREHENSION OF
SCIENCE............................................................................................. 1209
II. THE SCIENCE EMBEDDED IN THE LAW.............................................. 1211
A. Error Rates Are Public Policy................................................... 1211
B. The Methods That Underlie the Statistics.................................. 1216
C. Bringing Scientific Research to Legal Doctrine........................ 1218
D. Bringing the General Down to the Specific............................... 1220
CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 1225
INTRODUCTION
The role of the judge in the twenty-first century cannot be understood
without due consideration of the place of science and technology. Of
particular concern must be judges lack of preparation for the times ahead.
Sciences centrality to societys welfare marked the twentieth century, both in
terms of posing dire threats and promising salvation. While the importance of
science to society is likely to expand geometrically in the century ahead,
judges, on the whole, have little training in, knowledge of, or inclination to
learn science. Scientifically illiterate judges pose a grave threat to the
judiciarys power and legitimacy. Like all ignorance, scientific illiteracy casts
knowledge into the shadows, where only forms can be made out and detail is
impossible to discern. Scientifically illiterate judges abdicate power and shun
responsibility. In the twenty-first century, no judge will deserve the title if he
or she does not know science.
The imperative for judges to know science can be reduced to a simple
syllogism:
Applied science is almost invariably probabilistic and so cannot be used
adequately without knowledge of probabilities and statistics;
J udges regularly rely on applied science as an integral part of lawmaking;
therefore, it is incumbent on judges to understand probabilities and
statistics.