Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Wales

J.D. Course 411 | 3 credit hours

This course addresses the rapidly expanding use of social science experts in litigation and other legal decision making. The methodology of social science is contrasted with that of law for evaluating empirical claims. The course includes a basic introduction to social science methodology, a consideration of the relevance of social science to law-making, and the development of a theory for how empirical claims from the social sciences may best be incorporated into legal decision making. Subject areas vary widely and include pornography, capital punishment, jury studies, the prediction of criminal behavior, battered women syndrome, and eye-witness identification.