AAAS “Scientific Evidence and the Courts” Conference Recap

By Sheeva Azma

If you subscribe to the Fancy Comma blog, you may know that I attended a two-day conference on scientific evidence and the courts which occurred in Washington, DC at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on September 21 and 22, 2023. I tuned in virtually to watch seven sessions, which was all of the sessions on the first day of the conference, except the last one. I wrote a series of recap blogs about the role of science and scientific evidence in the judicial system, not just in the United States but globally.

If you missed my recap blogs, you can check all of them out below.

Where Law and Science Meet: This session focused on the history of what is known as the Daubert test or the Daubert standard (or just simply “Daubert”), which was established in 1993 the Supreme Court case, Daubert v. Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The speaker, Dr. Jennifer Mnookin, was a legal intern and PhD student when the court case came out. She recapped the past 30 years of Daubert.

Judges as Gatekeepers: Courts and Scientific Evidence: In a panel discussion, legal scholars and a judge discuss the ways in which Daubert makes judges gatekeepers of scientific evidence, for better or worse.

The (Un)Intended Impacts of the Daubert Standard: The intended impact of the Daubert standard, as discussed in the above two blogs, was to make scientific information more reliable and accurate in the courts, but what are its unintended impacts? This panel discussion answers that question.

An International Perspective: Supporting Judges at a Global Scale: This session talked about global perspectives in judicial systems, and ways to improve global justice.

In the Minds of the Jury: This session discusses what scientists have learned about juries and the judicial system that can help make the judicial process more fair and equitable, and overall, help create more justice in the world.

As a Matter of Fact: “General Acceptance” in Emerging vs. Established Science: This session got at the disconnect between scientific reasoning and legal reasoning.

Utilizing Scientific and Technical Expertise: This session provided actionable takeaways about ways to apply science better in the courtroom.

Check out the full program on the AAAS website, or watch all of the sessions on the AAAS’s “Scientific Evidence and the Courts” event playlist on YouTube. If you’re interested in ways science plays into the other two branches of government – executive and legislative – check out this post.