More Than the Law: Behavioral and Social Facts in Legal Decision Making
Complex legal issues often involve contested facts that require expert knowledge. In such cases, legal decision makers look to experts from fields as diverse as the behavioral, social, biomedical, or physical sciences to help settle disputes.\ More Than the Law: Behavioral and Social Facts in Legal Decision Making provides a fascinating and accessible introduction for students and other readers to the ways in which behavioral and social knowledge can and should inform legal decisions, as well...
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Complex legal issues often involve contested facts that require expert knowledge. In such cases, legal decision makers look to experts from fields as diverse as the behavioral, social, biomedical, or physical sciences to help settle disputes. More Than the Law: Behavioral and Social Facts in Legal Decision Making provides a fascinating and accessible introduction for students and other readers to the ways in which behavioral and social knowledge can and should inform legal decisions, as well as ways in which such knowledge can be misused. Eleven different stories are presented, highlighting major legal decisions such as mandatory testing for drug use in schools, abortion, use of the death penalty, and jury selection, among others. Chapters include a presentation of each decision and an analysis that critically explores the behavioral and social facts relevant to the case. Through these stories, students will discover the complexities and problems that can result from the application of behavioral science to legal decisions. Behavioral and social science experts will come to understand the special duty they bear to provide legal decision makers with the most accurate information available. And empirical researchers will recognize vast opportunities for research that could have a real impact in the courts, legislatures, and administrative agencies. This exceptional book fills a gap in the field of legal studies, offering a sophisticated examination of the use of behavioral and social science facts in judicial, legislative, and administrative determinations.
Ch. 1Introduction3IBehavioral and social facts are used in legal decision making13Ch. 2Factual knowledge is critical in legal decision making15Ch. 3Multiple sources of factual knowledge37IIWhy behavioral and social factual knowledge is used61Ch. 4Identifying and evaluating the factual assumptions underlying law63Ch. 5Providing the law with factual knowledge to help set legal goals85Ch. 6Aiding in the resolution of factual disputes105Ch. 7Aiding in the resolution of factual disputes relating to the constitutionality of a law125Ch. 8Providing factual, educational knowledge to aid legal decision making153IIIProblems related to the use of behavioral and social factual knowledge173Ch. 9Law refuses to rely on relevant factual knowledge175Ch. 10Relevant factual knowledge does not yet exist195Ch. 11Factual knowledge presented is irrelevant to the legal issue215Ch. 12Factual research has limitations241
