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Science Manual For US Judges

Posted by samzenpus on from the listen-to-the-scientific-laws dept.

An anonymous reader writes "American court judges need to learn science. That's the message from the National Academies and the National Research Council, which today released the first new edition in 11 years of the Reference Manual of Scientific Evidence. It has new chapters about forensic science, mental health, and neuroscience, but unfortunately nothing about computer science. The manual is available as a free download and it's also online."

8 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Just judges? by Wowsers · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not just judges that need science education, it's the politicians who seem to thrive on junk science and present it as fact. Politicians across the globe are dangerously uneducated, which makes them dangerous when making laws.

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
    1. Re:Just judges? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not just judges that need science education, it's the politicians who seem to thrive on junk science and present it as fact. Politicians across the globe are dangerously uneducated, which makes them dangerous when making laws.

      Politicians are a reflection of society. They always cater to the lowest common denominator.
      Have a well educated civil society and automatically you'll get for the most part politicians that will ignore junk science.
      Of course you'll always get the science denier etc.... but they will only infect their own stupidity and not other politicians.
      So go fix your school system first, everything else flows from there.

    2. Re:Just judges? by hrvatska · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If a lot of those politicians spouting junk science instead started using science based reasoning they wouldn't get elected. The problem, unfortunately, isn't the politicians, it's their constituents. The politicians are a symptom of a greater problem.

    3. Re:Just judges? by Pieroxy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You gotta start somewhere. The best way to start is at the source: The school system. How do you get to improve the school system with such uneducated politicians is the problem. But you can't focus on educating politicians. By the time you'll reach through their thick skulls, they'll be out of office and you have to start again with the newcomers.

      --
      Write boring code, not shiny code!
    4. Re:Just judges? by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Advertising. Bill Hicks was right on the mark when he told all people working in marketing to "go kill yourself".

      People want the good life, and they want it easy, and cheap, and now. Corporations are only too happy to sell them that dream, and promote the idea that you're entitled to shit on who you like to get it.

      The real dream should be a future like Star Trek (ludicrous physics notwithstanding). Sure, you see the elite working hard on starships, but imagine a future where technology has solved every material need of the human race - they're working hard because they love it, not because they are forced to by economic forces. I want a future where I get to do the job I love for the hours I want, see my friends a lot more, and spend more time with my daughter - because I don't have to worry about having to live on the street and eat garbage. And I'm fairly certain that it's possible within my lifetime, as long as the corporations don't continue to get their way - alas, they probably will.

    5. Re:Just judges? by mrxak · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Believe it or not, government is not always the answer to all of society's problems, education least of all. Parents need to take an interest in their children's educations. It's pretty much a local issue, anyway, so start going to PTA meetings and lobby your town selectmen or mayor. Heck, run for your local school board if they're incompetent.

      --
      -mrxak
      Onions Will Kill You
  2. Re:Right after... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Every judge in this country must read the Constitution, then there needs to be a person in the judges chambers that smacks the judge in the head once for every time the judge violated that section he is reading.

    The trouble is that the Constitution is subject to human interpretation. I've seen essays on how the semicolons in the Constitution meant something different than they do today for example. Or just look at the debates here on /. about the GPL. The exact same paragraph will have a different interpretation from different people. If it wasn't a problem then why did RMS have to publish a FAQ about the GPL?

    Unfortunately, the written word isn't as black and white as folks wish it were. That's why there are judges - to settle disputes about what the law says and means and what the intent is. Then, if judges rule contrary to what the legislatures meant, the legislatures will rewrite the law - maybe.

  3. Judicial certifications? by FriendlyPrimate · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems like Judges should be required to get special training and certifications (i.e. something similar to Bar Exams on specialized topics) before they are allowed to preside over cases requiring specialized knowledge like copyright, patents, medical malpractice, computer science, etc.