NCJ Number
122082
Journal
Rutgers Law Review Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1988) Pages: 1-26
Date Published
1988
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article points out that in some cases involving child abuse, battered wife syndrome, and surrogate parenting, courts are asked to make decisions based on insufficient scientific knowledge while working within boundaries that can be distorted by the adversary system.
Abstract
Courts must subject expert scientific knowledge to the test of reliability before they can admit and consider it. Additionally, courts must decide whether expert testimony is needed to help a jury better understand common experience. On the other hand, when experts are in disagreement and the matter under consideration is unsettled, expert testimony will not provide insight and truth and can hold justice hostage. Another problem is that imbalances between litigants can produce results detrimental to truth and justice. Because so much responsibility for fair outcomes depends on judges, they must be sensitive to scientific knowledge and research and be committed to obtaining and using such knowledge in judicial decisionmaking.