Law Commons^™

Neuroscientific Evidence In The Law: Fascinating Science But To Layment It's Still Phrenology (Revised, 2009), John M. Mccarthy

John M McCarthy

ABSTRACT

Neuroscientific Evidence in the Law:

Fascinating Science, but to laymen it's still phrenology

by

John M. McCarthy

Cognitive neuroscience is one of biology's most exciting specialties, but outside of laboratories, "neuroscience" is not "science" but something else. The article examines what it is. This bears on today's burgeoning "neuro-" applications in the law, including "neuroethics". The article argues that neuroscientific findings should be excluded today from legal contexts, because valid scientific findings do not exist concerning the complex mental performances pertinent to adjudication.

Laymen and neuroscientists embrace a theoretical paradigm that is over two centuries old: that a biological …

Rape, Feminism, And The War On Crime, Aya Gruber

Aya Gruber

Over the past several years, feminism has been increasingly associated with crime control and the incarceration of men. In apparent lock step with the movement of the American penal system, feminists have advocated a host of reforms to strengthen state power to punish gender-based crimes. In the rape context, this effort has produced mixed results. Sexual assault laws that adopt prevailing views of criminality and victimhood, such as predator laws, enjoy great popularity. However, reforms that target the difficulties of date rape prosecutions and seek to counter gender norms, such as rape shield and affirmative consent laws, are controversial, sporadically-implemented, …

Cross-Examining Film, Jessica M. Silbey

Jessica Silbey

The Supreme Court decision in Scott v. Harris holds that a Georgia police officer did not violate a fleeing suspect's Fourth Amendment rights when he caused the suspect's car to crash. The court's decision relies almost entirely on the filmed version of the high-speed police chase taken from a “dash-cam,” a video camera mounted on the dashboard of the pursuing police cruiser. The Supreme Court said that in light of the contrary stories told by the opposing parties to the lawsuit, the only story to be believed was that told by the video. In Scott v. Harris, the court fell …

A Witness To Justice, Jessica M. Silbey

Jessica Silbey

In the 1988 film The Accused, a young woman named Sarah Tobias is gang raped on a pinball machine by three men while a crowded bar watches. The rapists cut a deal with the prosecutor. Sarah's outrage at the deal convinces the assistant district attorney to prosecute members of the crowd that cheered on and encouraged the rape. This film shows how Sarah Tobias, a woman with little means and less experience, intuits that according to the law rape victims are incredible witnesses to their own victimization. The film goes on to critique what the "right" kind of witness would …

Eyewitness Corroboration Requirements As Protections Against Wrongful Conviction: The Hidden Questions, David Crump

David Crump

Several commentators have suggested the adoption of a rule requiring corroboration of eyewitness identification testimony. The concern underlying this proposal has merit, because misidentifications probably account for the largest share of erroneous convictions. But no one has catalogued the possible side effects of such a rule. Would the proposal have bad effects on the control of crime? Would it produce disproportionate acquittals in some crime categories, so that it might amount to a “Violent Predator’s Relief Act”? Would it result in even greater oppression of innocent people? What do the proponents mean by “corroboration,” anyway? What corroboration should be deemed …

We Don’T Want To Hear It: Psychology, Literature And The Narrative Model Of Judging, Kenworthey Bilz

Kenworthey Bilz

The “narrative” model of legal judging argues that legal decision makers both do and should render judgments by assembling sensible sto-ries out of evidence (as opposed to using Bayesian-type, linear models). This model is usually understood to demand that before one may judge a situation, one must give the parties the opportunity to tell their story in a manner that invites, or at least allows, empathy from the judger. This Article refers to this as the “inclusionary approach” to the narrative model of judging. Using psychological research in emotions and perspective-taking and the more intuitive techniques of literary criticism, this …

Daubert V. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals And The Local Construction Of Reliability, Robert R. Robinson

Robert R Robinson

Scholars considering how expert testimony will fare under Daubert often apply the four dicta referenced by Justice Blackmun (testing, peer-review, error rate, and general acceptance) to determine whether such testimony will be admissible. In this article I critique this approach, contending that admissibility decisions cannot be adequately predicted by Daubert itself. Daubert has no clear legal rule for judges to apply, has no cognizable position on the degree of scrutiny expert testimony should face, and has no clear stance—even given the dicta—on what constitutes “good science.” When combined with the relative autonomy trial judges possess in making admissibility decisions, Daubert’s …

The Death Of The American Trial, Robert Burns

Robert P. Burns

This book analyzes and criticizes the loss of one of the great achievements of our public culture, the American trial.

Federal Rule Of Evidence 502: Stirring The State Law Of Privilege And Professional Responsibility With A Federal Stick, Henry Noyes

Henry S. Noyes

Federal Rule of Evidence 502 was signed into law by President Bush on September 19, 2008. It is the last piece of the puzzle of e-discovery amendments. Rule 502 quietly takes the first steps toward federalization of two areas of law that traditionally have been subject to state regulation: The law governing waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the law governing an attorney's duties of professional conduct. This Article focuses on Rule 502(d) - the heart of this new Federal Rule of Evidence. This subsection permits a federal court to issue an order that protects against waiver of the attorney-client …

Fair Process And Fair Play: Professionally Responsible Cross-Examination, John F. Nivala

John F. Nivala

No abstract provided.

Neuroscience, Law & Government: Foreword To The Symposium, Jane Moriarty

Jane Campbell Moriarty

The legal and legislative systems have begun to rely on neuroscience in various types of decision-making. Without question, the relationship between the disciplines will become more enmeshed as more data is generated by neuroscientists. Are we ready for this potential sea change that will be both rich and strange?

Originality, Alex Stein, Gideon Parchomovsky

Alex Stein

In this Essay we introduce a model of copyright law that calibrates authors’ rights and liabilities to the level of originality in their works. We advocate this model as a substitute for the extant regime that unjustly and inefficiently grants equal protection to all works satisfying the “modicum of creativity” standard. Under our model, highly original works will receive enhanced protection and their authors will also be sheltered from suits by owners of preexisting works. Conversely, authors of less original works will receive diminished protection and incur greater exposure to copyright liability. We operationalize this proposal by designing separate rules …

Driving Through Arkansas? Have Your Dna Sample Ready, Brian Gallini

Brian Gallini

Visions Of Deception: Neuroimaging And The Search For Evidential Truth, Jane Moriarty

Jane Campbell Moriarty

The use of science in the search for truth poses consistent evidentiary problems of definition, causation, validity, accuracy, inferential conclusions unsupported by data, and real-world complications. And these evidentiary problems may well be implicated in the forensic use of neuroimages of deception. This article first briefly describes the various types of neuroimaging used to detect deception and describes some of the specific criticisms that have been leveled at the science. Second, the article outlines the standards governing admissibility and explains why the research to date does not yet meet any recognized standards of admissibility. Third, and finally, the article suggests …