10th Anniversary Of Supreme Court's Daubert Ruling

scraggly codger writes "Slashdot readers might find it interesting to learn about the ongoing legal controversy over the role of federal judges as gatekeepers for scientific evidence in civil and criminal litigation in the US. Ten years ago the Supreme Court provided guidelines for admissibility of scientific evidence in the Daubert ruling. Readers might find it hard to believe from the text of the ruling, but the result has been a huge increase in the power of judges to exclude scientific evidence from presentation to juries, based on what many scientists and other observers consider an incredibly naive (or perhaps merely self-serving) model of science. There's been a spate of news stories covering the topic, perhaps the most prominent in the WSJ of Friday, 27 June, "'Junk Science' Ban Also Keeps Jurors From Sound Evidence" (regrettably not freely available online). I particularly recommend Daubert: The Most Influential Supreme Court Ruling You've Never Heard Of."

Comments

The Mandrake Boycott (Please Read)

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear fellow patriots: It is with great urgency and sincerity that I bring to your attention the Mandrake Boycott.

You may not be aware that Mandrake Linux is a French product. Indeed, you would never know because of their shallow attempts to conceal this fact. But a simple trip to the whois database can reveal the truth. Now, you and I would never spend our American dollars on French wine, and we would certainly never travel there. So, why should we support a French company? We shouldn't.

While talking out of one side of their mouth about peace and security, the French have been actively engaged with terrorist groups and terrorist nations to sabotage our efforts to secure our future. You can read about this here and here. The French have stabbed us in the back repeatedly and, driven by their jealousy of our great Nation, they have exposed themselves as the traitorus liars that we have always suspected. It is also widely known that Jacques Chirac was an active supporter and business partner of Saddam Hussein. This is well documented; you can learn more here and here.

The French are having a very difficult time because they are long past their colonial greatness and have descended to a chaotic socialist society of laziness and ineptitude. Rather than realistically assess their own blame and work to restore their own status, they seek to bring us down. They lash out at the great nations who now lead the world community. The French are a shallow people who resent with great bitterness those who saved them. In WW1 and WW2 we rescued the French after they surrended and allowed them to preserve their way of life. But who can forget that the French jeered and spit on our liberating forces, before the final shot had even been fired? For more information check here or here.

We must now teach the French a lesson, and it is for their own good. They should not bite the hand that saves them, for soon we may decide they are not worth saving anymore. Therefore I urge you to boycott Mandrake Linux. Of course it would not be American for me to tell you what to do. If you must use Mandrake, then use it. Simply do not pay for it.

Now that I have your attention, I would like to discuss the larger issue of Linux in general. It is time for us, fellow patriots, to look at our situation in the world on a global scale. Microsoft is an American company. Bill Gates started with nothing and built an empire. What is the problem here? We should be supporting American enterprise, not undermining it. The simple fact is that no true partiot would use Linux at all. In these hard times we must rally around our companies, our economy, and our president. If we let the 'Linux Community' have their way, we will all be at the mercy of the Germans making KDE, or the Japanese with their desktop. Do you plan to learn Japanese in the near future? You may have to, if we don't start poneying up to the bar and laying it down for our cause.

Thank you for your attention. I trust I have reached you with this message, and we all look forward to a world united under the flag of Freedom, Democracy, and the American Way.

Re:The Mandrake Boycott (Please Read)

[vidicon]

Thanks Bill, I'll use a good ole American OS instead!

OMG!

[GillBates0]

Readers might find it hard to believe from the text of the ruling, but the result has been a huge increase in the power of judges to exclude scientific evidence from presentation to juries, based on what many scientists and other observers consider an incredibly naive (or perhaps merely self-serving) model of science./

Wow!still waiting for that compound sentence to filter through.

Re:self-serving people? in today's age?

[Delphiki]

So true. God I wish we had a totalitarian government so someone could finally crush all those selfish people under his boot and make them be altruistic.

MOD PARENT DOWN

[Phreakiture]

Off topic, Flamebait

Re:Please... Don't Reproduse.

[BigBadBri]

You synisal sarsastis sunt.

Muggle Science

[beta21]

Does this just exclude muggle science or wizarding science as well?