The Naturalized Epistemology Approach to Evidence

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Gabriel Broughton ◽  
Brian Leiter
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Naturalized Epistemology ◽  
Character Evidence ◽  
Evidence Rules ◽  
Jury Simulation ◽  
Evidence Law ◽  
Eyewitness Identifications

Studying evidence law as part of naturalized epistemology means using the tools and results of the sciences to evaluate evidence rules based on the accuracy of the verdicts they are likely to produce. This chapter introduces the approach and addresses skeptical concerns about the value of systematic empirical research for evidence scholarship, focusing, in particular, on worries about the external validity of jury simulation studies. Finally, turning to applications, it discusses possible reforms regarding eyewitness identifications and character evidence.

Character Evidence

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Saks ◽  
Barbara A. Spellman
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Basic Rule ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Criminal Records ◽  
Witness Credibility ◽  
Judicial Instructions ◽  
Character Evidence ◽  
Evidence Rules ◽  
Special Rule ◽  
Sexual Conduct

The basic rule limiting character evidence is quite sensible. Personality traits predict less than most people (including jurors) realize; situations, and person-by-situation interactions, are more potent forces. As the law suspects, people tend to perceive the behavior of others through lenses of propensity; consequently, they over-attribute and over-predict consistency between character and conduct. In fashioning the character evidence rules, common law judges correctly diagnosed a problem and took steps to temper those attributional tendencies to avoid inaccurate and unfair verdicts. The rules allow numerous exceptions, admitting some character evidence out of fairness or to permit helpful evidence while barring its most misleading variants. For example, defendants in criminal cases are permitted to offer evidence of their own character or the character of a victim. Other exceptions are made to assist factfinders to evaluate witness credibility. A special class of that rule deals with witnesses’ criminal records: a maze of sub-rules governs admissibility of prior crimes. Research finds that people tend to rely on prior crime evidence for its improper propensity purpose, contrary to judicial instructions about the limited use to which it may be put. A relatively new set of rules permits prior criminal sexual conduct to be admitted, allowing factfinders to draw inferences about “any matter to which it is relevant.” These rules are controversial because they invite jurors to engage in the very propensity thinking that centuries of evidence doctrine prohibited. Moreover, behavioral data do not support the theory behind a special rule for prior criminal sexual conduct.

Negligent Release Litigation: a Proposal for Procedural Reform

1989 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman G. Poythress
Keyword(s):  
Hindsight Bias ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Weak Evidence ◽  
Jury Simulation ◽  
Procedural Concerns ◽  
Procedural Reform ◽  
The Impact

Much of what has been written lately regarding tort reform has dealt with substantive as opposed to procedural concerns. This paper offers a preliminary proposal regarding procedural reform that would potentially correct for the hindsight bias in negligent release litigation and have application in other torts contexts involving transferred responsibility. The proposal for bifurcated trial proceedings is worthy of consideration by legal scholars and policy makers as a potential mechanism for ensuring fairness and improving the quality of justice. As a footnote, it might be added that social scientists might contribute to the assessment of the proposed bifurcation procedure by conducting jury simulation studies that investigate the impact of bifurcated vs. non-bifurcated procedures as a function of strong vs. weak evidence of clinician negligence in mock negligent release cases.

An Evidence Code for Eritrea: Towards More Predictable Trials and Fairer Judgments

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Senai W. Andemariam
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Evidence Code ◽  
Evidence Rules ◽  
Evidence Law

AbstractEritrea does not yet have a comprehensive evidence law. Draft Evidence Rules were prepared in Ethiopia, whose legal system Eritrea has essentially adopted, but were not enacted and the void intended to be filled by those rules has not yet been filled. In this article the author first counters the reasons for absence of comprehensive evidence law for Eritrea. He argues that a separate evidence law fits into the Eritrean legal system and will contribute to uniform trials and fairer judgments in Eritrea and briefly describes the contents of the Draft Evidence Code of Eritrea.

Dangerous, depraved, and death-worthy: A meta-analysis of the correlates of perceived psychopathy in jury simulation studies

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-643
Author(s):  
Shannon E. Kelley ◽  
John F. Edens ◽  
Elyse N. Mowle ◽  
Brittany N. Penson ◽  
Allison Rulseh
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Jury Simulation

scholarly journals It's time! 10 + 1 reasons we should start replicating simulation studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Lohmann ◽  
Oscar Lorenzo Olvera Astivia ◽  
Tim P Morris ◽  
Rolf H.H. Groenwold
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Core Element ◽  
Great Responsibility ◽  
Sound Foundation

The quantitative analysis of research data is a core element of empirical research. The performance of statistical methods that are used for analyzing empirical data can be evaluated and compared with computer simulations. A single simulation study can determine the analyses of thousands of empirical studies to follow. With great power comes great responsibility. Here, we argue that this responsibility includes replication of simulation studies to ensure a sound foundation for data analytical decisions. Furthermore, being designed, run and reported by humans, simulation studies face challenges similar to other experimental empirical research and hence should not be exempt from replication attempts. We highlight that the potential replicability of simulation studies is an opportunity and a luxury that quantitative methodology as a field should proudly embrace and use as a chance to lead by example.

scholarly journals Empirische Forschung und theoretischer Fortschritt in der Familiensoziologie: Koreferat zu Johannes Huininks Beitrag

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-260
Author(s):  
Martin Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirische Forschung ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Theoretical Reasoning

In this paper, I discuss the question what kind of empirical research should be considered necessary for achieving progress in the formation of theory. In four theses, I present research designs that could complement ‘classical’ research designs in a fruitful manner: first, boosting the application of longitudinal data; second, strengthening the observation of small subgroups; third, applying experimental procedures; and, fourth, applying simulation studies. A stronger emphasis on these less-employed research designs can contribute to a stronger interrelation between empirical research and theoretical reasoning. Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, welcher Art von empirischer Forschung es bedarf, um theoretischen Fortschritt zu erzielen. In Thesenform werden vier Forschungsdesigns vorgestellt, die die „klassischen“ Forschungsdesigns fruchtbar ergänzen können: 1. der verstärkte Einsatz von Längsschnittdaten, 2. die verstärkte Betrachtung kleiner Subgruppen, 3. der Einsatz experimenteller Verfahren und schließlich 4. der Einsatz von Simulationsstudien. Der vermehrte Bezug auf diese bisher weniger gebräuchlichen Designs kann dazu beitragen, Empirie und Theorie stärker aufeinander zu beziehen.

RACE, SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS, AND PERCEIVED SIMILARITY AS DETERMINANTS OF JUDGEMENTS BY SIMULATED JURORS

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Gleason ◽  
Victor A. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
Armed Robbery ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Jury Simulation

Eighty-four simulated jurors judged a defendant on trial for armed robbery after reading trial transcripts and other background information in a 2 × 2 factorial design which varied the defendant's race and socioeconomic status (S.E.S). Higher S.E.S. (middle class) defendants were judged less guilty and assigned fewer years in prison than low S.E.S. defendants regardless of race. A race × S.E.S. interaction on attributed blameworthiness of the defendant, which was inversely related to the jurors' judgements of the defendant's similarity to them, was also found. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings for jury simulation studies are discussed.

scholarly journals When Procedure Takes Priority: A Theoretical Evaluation of the Contemporary Trends in Criminal Procedure and Evidence Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-213
Author(s):  
Ofer Malcai ◽  
Ronit Levine-Schnur
Keyword(s):  
Reasonable Doubt ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Judicial Discretion ◽  
Theoretical Evaluation ◽  
Legal Decisions ◽  
Standard Of Proof ◽  
Character Evidence ◽  
Legal Outcomes ◽  
Evidence Law ◽  
Substantive Law

Current legal trends tend to obscure the sharp distinction between substance and procedure. This tendency is manifested, inter alia, as a growing dependence of procedural norms in substantive law; greater flexibility of procedural norms; and growing judicial discretion to deviate from procedural rules. In order to evaluate these contemporary trends, we provide a theoretical analysis of the basic relationships between procedural norms and substantive legal outcomes. This framework reveals the moral commitments underling these modern trends as opposed to the moral foundations of the traditional view that legal decisions should be made under rigid procedural constraints. Focusing on criminal evidence law, the proposed theoretical framework is applied to some of the ongoing legal debates, such as about the admissibility of evidence seized in violation of rights, the exclusion of statistical and character evidence, and the flexibility of the reasonable doubt standard of proof.

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