Doctoral Dissertation Research: Science in Court: An analysis of selected environmental litigation in the US from 1990 to 2018

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Doctoral Dissertation Research: Science in Court: An analysis of selected environmental litigation in the US from 1990 to 2018 This project evaluates how scientific methods and findings have been incorporated in environmental litigation in the United States between 1990 and 2018. The project focuses on three, key areas: 1) the types of scientific evidence used in litigation and how that evidence influences judicial decisions; 2) the factors that lead litigants to seek scientific information for use in the courtroom, as well as the factors that motivate scientists to provide that information; and 3) how uncertainties in environmental science are framed and addressed in legal disputes. This project has the potential to transform our understanding of how science is introduced, discussed, framed, and used in the judicial branch and, more broadly, in governmental policymaking. This project will use both qualitative and quantitative methods to study about 400 lawsuits that have addressed environmental matters between 1990 and 2018. There will be a systematic review of the briefs and decisions from these cases, complemented by in-depth interviews with a sample of individuals who participated in the cases. The study will link the defining factors of the cases (e.g., year, type of litigants, location, legal issue, scientific issue, and judicial decision) to the outcomes of interest. Doing so will facilitate an investigation of how litigants and the courts are reacting to scientific advances and to efforts by scientists to communicate their work in more accessible ways to nonscientific audiences. By linking the characteristics of the scientific evidence to the outcomes of cases, the research permits future litigants to better understand how scientific information can be more effectively incorporated in legal reasoning and argumentation. In turn, courts' decisions may reflect a stronger link between science and legal reasoning. Furthermore, the results of this research can be utilized by funding agencies to better support research in this area. By characterizing the demand for and supply of environmental science in the courtroom, this project bridges the gaps between science, law, and public policy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.