During the course of their careers, most lawyers will be
required to consider issues in which scientific and technical knowledge play a
critical role. Yet few law schools provide an adequate understanding of the
fundamental principles of scientific methodology and causal inference necessary
to assess particular scientific claims. Recognizing that law students and
students of other professional schools would benefit from early exposure to
materials that elucidate the role that scientific information and processes
play in decision-making across diverse venues, the National Academy of
Sciences’ Committee on Science, Technology, and Law established an ad hoc
committee to develop a series of science educational modules that can be easily
incorporated into the existing curricula of professional schools.
Join Paul Brest of Stanford Law School and Saul Perlmutter
of the University of California, Berkeley / E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, co-chairs of the ad hoc committee that oversaw the development of
the modules, to learn about this unique educational resource through a
discussion with the authors of three of the nine modules. Wendy Wagner of the
University of Texas Austin School of Law will present her module on how
scientific models are used by federal agencies and the legal and policy issues
they raise. David H. Kaye of Penn State Law will present his
module on using probability and statistics to interpret DNA evidence. Simon A. Cole of the Department of
Criminology, Law, and Society at the University of California, Irvine will
present his module on the challenging epistemological, legal, and policy issues
raised by fingerprint evidence.