Junk Science and Judicial Arrogance Are Killing Us

[Passages]

Steve Kennedy

November 26, 2024

Too many jurisdictions continue to abide by wholly discredited forensic techniques and pseudoscientific nonsense, which are leaving legal mayhem in their wake.

While they remain a singularly popular pop-culture genre, the police and court procedurals that draw the eyes and attention of television viewers on a daily basis have, unfortunately, given most people an idealized view of how our legal system works. This is never more true than in how the public has come to view the role that science and forensic evidence play in criminal proceedings. Judges and juries are supposed to weigh evidence from scientific experts presenting the most current version of the scientific consensus in their areas of expertise. So how do so many people keep going to jail based on junk science?

Part of the blame lies with judicial arrogance. Contrary to our mythology around the judiciary, judges are not objective observers and often struggle to remove personal and societal biases from their analyses of the cases before them. Despite not being scientists, judges, led by the U.S. Supreme Court, have concentrated power in themselves at the expense of reliance on scientific expertise.
https://newrepublic.com/article/188437/junk-science-robert-roberson-justice?utm_campaign=SF_TNR&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social