Statistical Science in the Courtroom

Statistical Science in the Courtroom
Author: Joseph L. Gastwirth
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1461212162

Expert testimony relying on scientific and other specialized evidence has come under increased scrutiny by the legal system. A trilogy of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases has assigned judges the task of assessing the relevance and reliability of proposed expert testimony. In conjunction with the Federal judiciary, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has initiated a project to provide judges indicating a need with their own expert. This concern with the proper interpretation of scientific evidence, especially that of a probabilistic nature, has also occurred in England, Australia and in several European countries. Statistical Science in the Courtroom is a collection of articles written by statisticians and legal scholars who have been concerned with problems arising in the use of statistical evidence. A number of articles describe DNA evidence and the difficulties of properly calculating the probability that a random individual's profile would "match" that of the evidence as well as the proper way to intrepret the result. In addition to the technical issues, several authors tell about their experiences in court. A few have become disenchanted with their involvement and describe the events that led them to devote less time to this application. Other articles describe the role of statistical evidence in cases concerning discrimination against minorities, product liability, environmental regulation, the appropriateness and fairness of sentences and how being involved in legal statistics has raised interesting statistical problems requiring further research.

Applying Statistics in the Courtroom

Applying Statistics in the Courtroom
Author: Philip Good
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2001-07-11
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1420035401

This publication is directed at both attorneys and statisticians to ensure they will work together successfully on the application of statistics in the law. Attorneys will learn how best to utilize the statistician's talents, while gaining an enriched understanding of the law relevant to audits, jury selection, discrimination, environmental hazards, evidence, and torts as it relates to statistical issues. Statisticians will learn that the law is what judges say it is and to frame their arguments accordingly. This book will increase the effectiveness of both parties in presenting and attacking statistical arguments in the courtroom. Topics covered include sample and survey methods, probability, testing hypotheses, and multiple regression.

Statistical Science in the Courtroom

Statistical Science in the Courtroom
Author: Joseph L. Gastwirth
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 443
Release: 2000-09-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780387989976

Expert testimony relying on scientific and other specialized evidence has come under increased scrutiny by the legal system. A trilogy of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases has assigned judges the task of assessing the relevance and reliability of proposed expert testimony. In conjunction with the Federal judiciary, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has initiated a project to provide judges indicating a need with their own expert. This concern with the proper interpretation of scientific evidence, especially that of a probabilistic nature, has also occurred in England, Australia and in several European countries. Statistical Science in the Courtroom is a collection of articles written by statisticians and legal scholars who have been concerned with problems arising in the use of statistical evidence. A number of articles describe DNA evidence and the difficulties of properly calculating the probability that a random individual's profile would "match" that of the evidence as well as the proper way to intrepret the result. In addition to the technical issues, several authors tell about their experiences in court. A few have become disenchanted with their involvement and describe the events that led them to devote less time to this application. Other articles describe the role of statistical evidence in cases concerning discrimination against minorities, product liability, environmental regulation, the appropriateness and fairness of sentences and how being involved in legal statistics has raised interesting statistical problems requiring further research.

Statistical Science in the Courtroom

Statistical Science in the Courtroom
Author: Joseph L. Gastwirth
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 443
Release: 2012-10-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781461270461

Expert testimony relying on scientific and other specialized evidence has come under increased scrutiny by the legal system. A trilogy of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases has assigned judges the task of assessing the relevance and reliability of proposed expert testimony. In conjunction with the Federal judiciary, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has initiated a project to provide judges indicating a need with their own expert. This concern with the proper interpretation of scientific evidence, especially that of a probabilistic nature, has also occurred in England, Australia and in several European countries. Statistical Science in the Courtroom is a collection of articles written by statisticians and legal scholars who have been concerned with problems arising in the use of statistical evidence. A number of articles describe DNA evidence and the difficulties of properly calculating the probability that a random individual's profile would "match" that of the evidence as well as the proper way to intrepret the result. In addition to the technical issues, several authors tell about their experiences in court. A few have become disenchanted with their involvement and describe the events that led them to devote less time to this application. Other articles describe the role of statistical evidence in cases concerning discrimination against minorities, product liability, environmental regulation, the appropriateness and fairness of sentences and how being involved in legal statistics has raised interesting statistical problems requiring further research.

The Evolving Role of Statistical Assessments as Evidence in the Courts

The Evolving Role of Statistical Assessments as Evidence in the Courts
Author: Stephen E. Fienberg
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1461236045

With increasing frequency, the proof of facts in legal proceedings en tails the use of quantitative methods. Judges, lawyers, statisticians, social scientists, and many others involved in judicial processes must address is sues such as the evaluation and interpretation of quantitative evidence, the ethical and professional obligations of expert witnesses, and the roles of court-appointed witnesses. The Panel on Statistical Assessments as Evi dence in the Courts was convened to help clarify these issues and provide some guidance in addressing the difficulties encountered in the use of quan titative assessments in legal proceedings. This report is the culmination of more than three years of research and deliberation. In it, we address a variety of issues that arise in federal and state court proceedings when statistical assessments such as quantitative descriptions, causal inferences, and predictions of events based on earlier occurrences are presented as evidence. We appraise the forms in which such assessments are presented, aspects of their admission into evidence, and the response to and evaluation of them by judges and juries.

Statistics in the Courtroom

Statistics in the Courtroom
Author: Charles R. Mann
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2010
Genre:
ISBN:

The application of statistics to litigation and regulatory matters has become increasingly important over the last four decades. The presentation of statistical arguments to lay decision makers in an adversarial climate has introduced special, if not unique, practical and ethical issues. These were addressed by statisticians J. L. Gastwirth and J. B. Kadane, and by attorney S. L. Willborn in an American Statistical Association Invited Session chaired by the author during the 2004 Joint Statistical Meetings in Toronto. The papers that follow were prepared to summarize their remarks.

Math on Trial

Math on Trial
Author: Leila Schneps
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2013-03-12
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0465037941

In the wrong hands, math can be deadly. Even the simplest numbers can become powerful forces when manipulated by politicians or the media, but in the case of the law, your liberty -- and your life -- can depend on the right calculation. In Math on Trial, mathematicians Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez describe ten trials spanning from the nineteenth century to today, in which mathematical arguments were used -- and disastrously misused -- as evidence. They tell the stories of Sally Clark, who was accused of murdering her children by a doctor with a faulty sense of calculation; of nineteenth-century tycoon Hetty Green, whose dispute over her aunt's will became a signal case in the forensic use of mathematics; and of the case of Amanda Knox, in which a judge's misunderstanding of probability led him to discount critical evidence -- which might have kept her in jail. Offering a fresh angle on cases from the nineteenth-century Dreyfus affair to the murder trial of Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk, Schneps and Colmez show how the improper application of mathematical concepts can mean the difference between walking free and life in prison. A colorful narrative of mathematical abuse, Math on Trial blends courtroom drama, history, and math to show that legal expertise isn't't always enough to prove a person innocent.