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Selected Works

Evidence

2003

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

Truth-Bonding And Other Truth-Revealing Mechanisms For Courts, Robert D. Cooter, Winand Emons Feb 2003

Truth-Bonding And Other Truth-Revealing Mechanisms For Courts, Robert D. Cooter, Winand Emons

Robert Cooter

In trials witnesses often slant their testimony in order to advance their own in- terests. To obtain truthful testimony, the law relies on cross-examination under threat of prosecution for perjury. We show that perjury law is an imperfect truth- revealing mechanism. Moreover, we develop a truth-revealing mechanism for the same set of restrictions under which perjury rules operate. Under this mechanism the witness is sanctioned if a court eventually finds that the testimony was incor- rect; the court need not determine that testimony was dishonest. We explain how truth-revealing mechanisms could combat distortions of observations by factual witnesses and exaggerations …

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Sharing Sacred Secrets: Is It (Past) Time For A Dangerous Person Exception To The Clergy-Penitent Privilege?, R. Michael Cassidy Dec 2002

Sharing Sacred Secrets: Is It (Past) Time For A Dangerous Person Exception To The Clergy-Penitent Privilege?, R. Michael Cassidy

R. Michael Cassidy

In this article, the author discusses the important and previously unexplored topic of whether the law should recognize a future harms exception to the clergy-penitent privilege, similar to that recognized in the area of psychotherapist-patient and attorney-client privileges. After tracing the origins and current application of the clergy-penitent privilege in America, the author discusses how the privilege as currently applied in most states admits of no exceptions, and is unnecessarily expansive in breadth. Using the hypothetical of a homicidal spouse who reveals to his minister an intent to murder his wife, the article compares the ethical and legal duties of …

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Evidence And The One Liner: A Beginning Evidence Professor’S Exploration Of The Use Of Humor In The Law School Classroom, John J. Capowski Dec 2002

Evidence And The One Liner: A Beginning Evidence Professor’S Exploration Of The Use Of Humor In The Law School Classroom, John J. Capowski

John J. Capowski

No abstract provided.

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Indeterminate Causation And Apportionment Of Damages, Alex Stein, Ariel Porat Dec 2002

Indeterminate Causation And Apportionment Of Damages, Alex Stein, Ariel Porat

Alex Stein

This Article analyzes the problem of indeterminate causation in torts and develops a system of compensating plaintiffs that responds to both optimal deterrence and corrective justice criteria. Under this system, the plaintiff’s award should equal her harm multiplied by the ex post probability of causation. Any other system, including that of recovery for lost chances that many courts have adopted, would either under-compensate or over-compensate the plaintiff. The Article’s approach is presently recommended by the Third Restatement of Torts.

This Article derives from the general theory developed in my book with Ariel Porat, Tort Liability under Uncertainty (Oxford University Press, …

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