The gatekeeper's dilemma: Expert testimony, scientific knowledge and judicial reasoning

Arbeitspapier

We examine the relationship between scientific knowledge and the legal system with a focus on the exclusion of expert testimony from trial as ruled by the Daubert standard in the US. We introduce a simple framework to understand and assess the role of judges as 'gatekeepers', monitoring the admission of science in the courtroom. We show how judges face a crucial choice, namely, whether to limit Daubert assessment to the abstract reliability of the methods used by the expert witness or also to check whether the application of those methods was correct. Undesirable outcomes result from both choices, thereby giving rise to the 'gatekeeper's dilemma.' We illustrate the dilemma by analyzing in some detail two well-known cases of Daubert challenges to economic experts. Finally, we present reasons for the absence of straightforward solutions to the dilemma and for its likely endurance.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CHOPE Working Paper ; No. 2024-02

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Methodology: General ; Economic Methodology ; Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior: General ; Litigation Process
• Subject: Expert Testimony ; Daubert ; Reliability ; Scientific Expertise

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Peruzzi, Edoardo ; Cevolani, Gustavo
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Duke University, Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE)
• (where): Durham, NC
• (when): 2024

Further information

• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET