Argument from Expert Opinion as Legal Evidence: Critical Questions and Admissibility Criteria of Expert Testimony in the American Legal System
Ratio Juris 19 (3):261-286 (2006)
Abstract
While courts depend on expert opinions in reaching sound judgments, the role of the expert witness in legal proceedings is associated with a litany of problems. Perhaps most prevalent is the question of under what circumstances should testimony be admitted as expert opinion. We review the changing policies adopted by American courts in an attempt to ensure the reliability and usefulness of the scientific and technical information admitted as evidence. We argue that these admissibility criteria are best seen in a dialectical context as a set of critical questions of the kind commonly used in models of argumentation.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9337.2006.00331.x
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Citations of this work
The Appeal to Expert Opinion: Quantitative Support for a Bayesian Network Approach.Adam J. L. Harris, Ulrike Hahn, Jens K. Madsen & Anne S. Hsu - 2016 - Cognitive Science 40 (6):1496-1533.
A normative framework for argument quality: argumentation schemes with a Bayesian foundation.Ulrike Hahn & Jos Hornikx - 2016 - Synthese 193 (6):1833-1873.
The Role of Evidence in Chronic Care Decision-Making.Fabrizio Macagno & Sarah Bigi - 2021 - Topoi 40 (2):343-358.
The epistemology of scientific evidence.Douglas Walton & Nanning Zhang - 2013 - Artificial Intelligence and Law 21 (2):173-219.
References found in this work
Informal Logic: A Handbook for Critical Argumentation.Douglas Neil Walton - 1989 - Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Appeal to Expert Opinion: Arguments From Authority.Douglas Neil Walton - 1997 - University Park, PA, USA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Defending Science -- Within Reason: Between Scientism and Cynicism.Susan Haack - 2011 - Prometheus Books.
Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation: A Survey of Theories on the Justification of Judicial Decisions.Eveline T. Feteris - 2017 - Dordrecht, Netherland: Springer Verlag.