Two Concepts of Reliability
Abstract
In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.[2] and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael,[3] the United States Supreme Court set the law of expert testimony on a quest for “reliability.” These decisions made it clear that trial judges are to perform a “gatekeeping” function, filtering out proposed testimony when the expertise on which it is based, whether scientific or otherwise, is not reliable. The new requirement has spawned a substantial literature and furious intellectual battles. Little attention has been given, however, to analyzing the relationship between the reliability requirement and the purposes of admissibility rules. In this essay, I argue that one key to making progress on the contested matters is changing the way courts and commentators conceive, or at least how they articulate, the requirement, so that this relationship becomes more transparent.
Keywords
Reliability
Publication Date
2005
Document Type
Article
Place of Original Publication
The Journal of Philosophy, Science, and Law
Publication Information
5 The Journal of Philosophy, Science, and Law (2005)
Repository Citation
Nance, Dale A., "Two Concepts of Reliability" (2005). Faculty Publications. 940.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/940
