The Daubert Revolution and the Birth of Modernity: Managing Scientific Evidence in the Age of Science
39 Pages Posted: 24 Feb 2013 Last revised: 28 Aug 2015
Date Written: February 22, 2013
Abstract
Daubert began as a relatively modest political revolution, but in the long-term is likely to be known for the intellectual transformation it imposed on the law. At least, that is the basic premise of this Essay. Daubert and its progeny are best understood as originally intended to give trial courts expanded managerial powers over expert testimony and, thus, the trial process more generally. By employing the scientific sensibilities necessary to effect this social transformation, however, the Court unleashed an intellectual revolution that overturned the “Ancien Régime.” Daubert thus began as a modest attempt to expand district courts’ management of their dockets but ended up bringing scientific enlightenment to the law.
Keywords: Expert Evidence, Daubert
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