Evidence, Co-Sponsored by Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Minority Groups, and Law and the Social Sciences

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Rules of evidence regulate the admissibility of witness testimony and exhibits, but factfinders experience so much more during a trial. They observe the parties’ bodies, dress, and demeanor, and see how fellow jurors, members of the public, and the judge react to the evidence as it is presented. This panel will explore how this unregulated evidence affects the trial, and whether the current system should change. Does failing to regulate this evidence reinforce caste structures? Does it allow lawyers to evade evidentiary restrictions with their questions and statements? Are rules the answer, considering how often rules themselves perpetuate inequality?