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

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1461236045

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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 and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists
Statistics and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists

Author: Colin Aitken

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2004-11-19

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 047001122X

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The first edition of Statistics and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists established itself as a highly regarded authority on this area. Fully revised and updated, the second edition provides significant new material on areas of current interest including: Glass Interpretation Fibres Interpretation Bayes’ Nets The title presents comprehensive coverage of the statistical evaluation of forensic evidence. It is written with the assumption of a modest mathematical background and is illustrated throughout with up-to-date examples from a forensic science background. The clarity of exposition makes this book ideal for all forensic scientists, lawyers and other professionals in related fields interested in the quantitative assessment and evaluation of evidence. 'There can be no doubt that the appreciation of some evidence in a court of law has been greatly enhanced by the sound use of statistical ideas and one can be confident that the next decade will see further developments, during which time this book will admirably serve those who have cause to use statistics in forensic science.' D.V. Lindley

Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence
Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-10-26

Total Pages: 1034

ISBN-13: 0309214211

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The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, Third Edition, assists judges in managing cases involving complex scientific and technical evidence by describing the basic tenets of key scientific fields from which legal evidence is typically derived and by providing examples of cases in which that evidence has been used. First published in 1994 by the Federal Judicial Center, the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence has been relied upon in the legal and academic communities and is often cited by various courts and others. Judges faced with disputes over the admissibility of scientific and technical evidence refer to the manual to help them better understand and evaluate the relevance, reliability and usefulness of the evidence being proffered. The manual is not intended to tell judges what is good science and what is not. Instead, it serves to help judges identify issues on which experts are likely to differ and to guide the inquiry of the court in seeking an informed resolution of the conflict. The core of the manual consists of a series of chapters (reference guides) on various scientific topics, each authored by an expert in that field. The topics have been chosen by an oversight committee because of their complexity and frequency in litigation. Each chapter is intended to provide a general overview of the topic in lay terms, identifying issues that will be useful to judges and others in the legal profession. They are written for a non-technical audience and are not intended as exhaustive presentations of the topic. Rather, the chapters seek to provide judges with the basic information in an area of science, to allow them to have an informed conversation with the experts and attorneys.

Statistical Science in the Courtroom
Statistical Science in the Courtroom

Author: Joseph L. Gastwirth

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 1461212162

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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

Published: 2001-07-11

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1420035401

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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.

The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence
The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1996-12-12

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 0309134404

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In 1992 the National Research Council issued DNA Technology in Forensic Science, a book that documented the state of the art in this emerging field. Recently, this volume was brought to worldwide attention in the murder trial of celebrity O. J. Simpson. The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence reports on developments in population genetics and statistics since the original volume was published. The committee comments on statements in the original book that proved controversial or that have been misapplied in the courts. This volume offers recommendations for handling DNA samples, performing calculations, and other aspects of using DNA as a forensic toolâ€"modifying some recommendations presented in the 1992 volume. The update addresses two major areas: Determination of DNA profiles. The committee considers how laboratory errors (particularly false matches) can arise, how errors might be reduced, and how to take into account the fact that the error rate can never be reduced to zero. Interpretation of a finding that the DNA profile of a suspect or victim matches the evidence DNA. The committee addresses controversies in population genetics, exploring the problems that arise from the mixture of groups and subgroups in the American population and how this substructure can be accounted for in calculating frequencies. This volume examines statistical issues in interpreting frequencies as probabilities, including adjustments when a suspect is found through a database search. The committee includes a detailed discussion of what its recommendations would mean in the courtroom, with numerous case citations. By resolving several remaining issues in the evaluation of this increasingly important area of forensic evidence, this technical update will be important to forensic scientists and population geneticistsâ€"and helpful to attorneys, judges, and others who need to understand DNA and the law. Anyone working in laboratories and in the courts or anyone studying this issue should own this book.

A Statistical Guide for the Ethically Perplexed
A Statistical Guide for the Ethically Perplexed

Author: Lawrence Hubert

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2012-09-25

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 1439873682

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For disciplines concerned with human well-being, such as medicine, psychology, and law, statistics must be used in accordance with standards for ethical practice. A Statistical Guide for the Ethically Perplexed illustrates the proper use of probabilistic and statistical reasoning in the behavioral, social, and biomedical sciences. Designed to be consulted when learning formal statistical techniques, the text describes common instances of both correct and false statistical and probabilistic reasoning. Lauded for their contributions to statistics, psychology, and psychometrics, the authors make statistical methods relevant to readers’ day-to-day lives by including real historical situations that demonstrate the role of statistics in reasoning and decision making. The historical vignettes encompass the English case of Sally Clark, breast cancer screening, risk and gambling, the Federal Rules of Evidence, "high-stakes" testing, regulatory issues in medicine, difficulties with observational studies, ethics in human experiments, health statistics, and much more. In addition to these topics, seven U.S. Supreme Court decisions reflect the influence of statistical and psychometric reasoning and interpretation/misinterpretation. Exploring the intersection of ethics and statistics, this comprehensive guide assists readers in becoming critical and ethical consumers and producers of statistical reasoning and analyses. It will help them reason correctly and use statistics in an ethical manner.

Statistics in the Public Interest
Statistics in the Public Interest

Author: Alicia L. Carriquiry

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-04-22

Total Pages: 574

ISBN-13: 303075460X

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This edited volume surveys a variety of topics in statistics and the social sciences in memory of the late Stephen Fienberg. The book collects submissions from a wide range of contemporary authors to explore the fields in which Fienberg made significant contributions, including contingency tables and log-linear models, privacy and confidentiality, forensics and the law, the decennial census and other surveys, the National Academies, Bayesian theory and methods, causal inference and causes of effects, mixed membership models, and computing and machine learning. Each section begins with an overview of Fienberg’s contributions and continues with chapters by Fienberg’s students, colleagues, and collaborators exploring recent advances and the current state of research on the topic. In addition, this volume includes a biographical introduction as well as a memorial concluding chapter comprised of entries from Stephen and Joyce Fienberg’s close friends, former students, colleagues, and other loved ones, as well as a photographic tribute.

Human Identification: The Use of DNA Markers
Human Identification: The Use of DNA Markers

Author: B. Weir

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1995-09-30

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 0306468514

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The ongoing debate on the use of DNA profiles to identify perpetrators in criminal investigations or fathers in paternity disputes has too often been conducted with no regard to sound statistical, genetic or legal reasoning. The contributors to Human Identification: The Use of DNA Markers all have considerable experience in forensic science, statistical genetics or jurimetrics, and many of them have had to explain the scientific issues involved in using DNA profiles to judges and juries. Although the authors hold differing views on some of the issues, they have all produced accounts which pay due attention to the, sometimes troubling, issues of independence of components of the profiles and of population substructures. The book presents the considerable evolution of ideas that has occurred since the 1992 Report of the National Research Council of the U.S. Audience: Indispensable to forensic scientists, laying out the concepts to all those with an interest in the use of genetic information. The chapters and exhaustive bibliography are vital information for all lawyers who must prosecute or defend DNA cases, and to judges trying such cases.