The Use of Social Science Data in Supreme Court Decisions

The Use of Social Science Data in Supreme Court Decisions
Author: Rosemary J. Erickson
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 1998
Genre: Judicial process
ISBN: 9780252066610

The cultures of law and social science differ markedly as to the kinds of truth they pursue. Law is deductive, presenting its findings as certainties; social science is largely inductive, presenting its conclusions as subject to revision and contingency. Yet the legal community traditionally draws at will and unsystematically on the findings of social science, sometimes with unfortunate results. The authors of this study explore this issue by focusing on the manner in which the United States Supreme Court uses social science data in reaching its decisions. Concentrating on decisions involving the issues of abortion, sex discrimination, and sexual harassment, they show that the use of such data has increased over the last twenty years, but they also show that whether such data are used appears to hinge more on the liberal, conservative, or longheld positions of the judges and the types of cases involved, rather than on the objectivity or validity of the data. By offering insights into how data are used by the Supreme Court, the authors hope to show social scientists how to make their research more suitable for courtroom use and to show the legal community how such data can be used more effectively.

Social Science in Law

Social Science in Law
Author: John Monahan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 728
Release: 2006
Genre: Law
ISBN:

The publication incorporates Dauber v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the United States Supreme Court's landmark decision on scientific evidence in addition to new Daubert-based cases cited throughout the book. The book offers an in-depth discussion of the growing use of survey methods to establish damages in mass tort cases. The authors have integrated the latest Web site addresses to aid in further social science and legal research. It includes selections from two handbooks: the Federal Judicial Center Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence and West's? Modern Scientific Evidence.

Social Research in the Judicial Process

Social Research in the Judicial Process
Author: Wallace D. Loh
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Total Pages: 811
Release: 1984-09-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1610443675

"How to inform the judicial mind," Justice Frankfurter remarked during the school desegregation cases, "is one of the most complicated problems." Social research is a potential source of such information. Indeed, in the 1960s and 1970s, with activist courts at the forefront of social reform, the field of law and social science came of age. But for all the recent activity and scholarship in this area, few books have attempted to create an intellectual framework, a systematic introduction to applied social-legal research. Social Research in the Judicial Process addresses this need for a broader picture. Designed for use by both law students and social science students, it constructs a conceptual bridge between social research (the realm of social facts) and judicial decision making (the realm of social values). Its unique casebook format weaves together judicial opinions, empirical studies, and original text. It is a process-oriented book that teaches skills and perspectives, cultivating an informed sensitivity to the use and misuse of psychology, social psychology, and sociology in apellate and trial adjudication. Among the social-legal topics explored are school desegregation, capital punishment, jury impartiality, and eyewitness identification. This casebook is remarkable for its scope, its accessibility, and the intelligence of its conceptual integration. It provides the kind of interdisciplinary teaching framework that should eventually help lawyers to make knowledgeable use of social research, and social scientists to conduct useful research within a legally sophisticated context.

U.S. Supreme Court Use of Social Science Research to Inform Constitutional Criminal Law and Procedure Opinions Throughout the 2001 – 2015 Terms

U.S. Supreme Court Use of Social Science Research to Inform Constitutional Criminal Law and Procedure Opinions Throughout the 2001 – 2015 Terms
Author: Michele Bisaccia Meitl
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2017
Genre: Criminal procedure
ISBN:

The call for policies supported by evidence based research have increased over the past few decades. The United States Supreme Court is one of the entities that influence criminal procedure/civil liberties through their constitutional criminal procedure opinions. In 1990, Acker published a series of articles that assessed the Court’s reliance on social science research in criminal cases. This study updates that research to assess how the Court has increased (or not increased) its reliance on/use of empirical research in decision-making on constitutional criminal procedure cases from the 2001 October term through the 2015 October term.

Social Scientists for Social Justice

Social Scientists for Social Justice
Author: John P. Jackson, Jr.
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2001-11-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0814743277

In one of the twentieth century's landmark Supreme Court cases, Brown v. Board of Education, social scientists such as Kenneth Clark helped to convince the Supreme Court Justices of the debilitating psychological effects of racism and segregation. John P. Jackson, Jr., examines the well-known studies used in support of Brown, such as Clark’s famous “doll tests,” as well as decades of research on race which lead up to the case. Jackson reveals the struggles of social scientists in their effort to impact American law and policy on race and poverty and demonstrates that without these scientists, who brought their talents to bear on the most pressing issues of the day, we wouldn’t enjoy the legal protections against discrimination we may now take for granted. For anyone interested in the history and legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, this is an essential book.