Evidence Observed: Daubert's Impact on Science and Justice

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Evidence Observed: Daubert?s Impact on Science and Justice Sheila Jasanoff and Sean O?Donnell In 1993, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark decision, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., that changed the rules for managing the quality and flow of scientific evidence into federal courts. Daubert charged trial judges with the responsibility to act as ?gatekeepers? for scientific evidence and to ensure that such testimony was both reliable and relevant. This project examines the impact of Daubert on science and justice and documents the translation of a legal decision into practices in the legal process. Specifically, the project addresses the following questions: Did the decision succeed with respect to its primary objective: to keep unreliable and irrelevant expert testimony (popularly known as "junk science") out of courts? What was the effect of requiring trial judges to "think like scientists"? To what extent did Daubert stimulate the production of new scientific knowledge? Has Daubert impeded the introduction of valid scientific knowledge as evidence? Has Daubert promoted justice? The project will address these questions with a mix of qualitative methods. A searchable database will be created of state and federal decisions across four "hotspot" jurisdictions representing ?liberal? and ?restrictive? interpretations of Daubert. Claims of chemical and drug-induced injuries and their associated forms of evidence and expertise will be tracked and analyzed. Case studies will be prepared of two high-profile post-Daubert lawsuits involving evidentiary conflicts: litigation over phenylpropanolamine (PPA), a drug suspected of causing strokes; and over silicone gel breast implants, alleged to cause immune system disorders. Trial documents and videotaped testimony will be analyzed and personal interviews will be conducted to provide in-depth understanding of the uses of expert evidence after Daubert. The project will document and preserve the early history of Daubert's implementation by archiving pertinent written texts, videos, and interviews so as to assist future researchers in law and science. Project results will also help improve the education of judges, litigators, and expert witnesses.