Toxic Torts: Science, Law and the Possibility of Justice

by Carl F. Cranor

• ISBN13: 9780521861823
• ISBN10: 0521861829
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-09-04
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The U.S. tort, or personal injury law, cloaked behind increased judicial review of science, is changing before our eyes, except we cannot see it. U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning with Daubert v. Merrell-Dow Pharmaceutical altered how courts review scientific testimony and its foundation in the law. The complexity of both science and the law mask the overall social consequences of these decisions. Yet they are too important to remain hidden. Mistaken reviews of scientific evidence can decrease citizen access to the law, increase incentives for firms not to test their products, lower deterrence for wrongful conduct and harmful products, and decrease the possibility of justice for citizens injured by toxic substances. Even if courts review evidence well, greater judicial scrutiny increases litigation costs and attorney screening of clients, and decreases citizens' access to the law. This book introduces these issues, reveals the relationships that can deny citizens just restitution for harms suffered, and shows how justice can be enhanced in toxic tort cases.

Table of Contents

1. The veil of science over Tort Law policy

2. Legal background

3. Institutional concerns about the Supreme Court's triology

4. The science of toxicity and reasoning about causation

5. Excellent evidence makes bad law: pragmatic barriers to the discovery of harm and fair admissibility decisions

6. Science and law in conflict

7. Improving legal protections under Daubert

Is Daubert the solution?

Bibliography.