Peruzzi, Edoardo and CEVOLANI, Gustavo (2024) The gatekeeper’s dilemma: expert testimony, scientific knowledge and judicial reasoning. [Preprint]
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Abstract
We examine the relationship between scientific knowledge and the legal system with a focus on the exclusion of expert testimony from trial as ruled by the Daubert standard in the US.We introduce a simple framework to understand and assess the role of judges as “gatekeepers”, monitoring the admission of science in the courtroom. We show how judges face a crucial choice, namely, whether to limit Daubert assessment to the abstract reliability of the methods used by the expert witness or also to check whether the application of those methods was correct. Undesirable outcomes result from both choices, thereby giving rise to the “gatekeeper’s dilemma.” We illustrate the dilemma by analyzing in some detail two well-known cases of Daubert challenges to economic experts. Finally, we present reasons for the absence of straightforward solutions to the dilemma and for its likely endurance.
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Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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Keywords: | Expert Testimony; Daubert; Reliability; Scientific Expertise | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Economics Specific Sciences > Psychology > Judgment and Decision Making General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy |
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Depositing User: | Mr. Edoardo Peruzzi | |||||||||
Date Deposited: | 18 Mar 2024 23:25 | |||||||||
Last Modified: | 18 Mar 2024 23:25 | |||||||||
Item ID: | 23206 | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Economics Specific Sciences > Psychology > Judgment and Decision Making General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy |
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Date: | March 2024 | |||||||||
URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23206 |
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- The gatekeeper’s dilemma: expert testimony, scientific knowledge and judicial reasoning. (deposited 18 Mar 2024 23:25) [Currently Displayed]
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