Truth, Error, and Criminal Law: An Essay in Legal Epistemology (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law) by Larry Laudan (PDF)

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Beginning with the premise that the principal function of a criminal trial is to find out the truth about a crime, Larry Laudan examines the rules of evidence and procedure that would be appropriate if the discovery of the truth were, as higher courts routinely claim, the overriding aim of the criminal justice system. Laudan mounts a systematic critique of existing rules and procedures that are obstacles to that quest. He also examines issues of error distribution by offering the first integrated analysis of the various mechanisms – the standard of proof, the benefit of the doubt, the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof – for implementing society’s view about the relative importance of the errors that can occur in a trial.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The Supreme Court, in Nix v. Whiteside, 374 U.S. 157, 158 (1986), solemnly intoned that “The very nature of a [criminal] trial [is] a search for truth,” and this sentiment has been echoed by lower courts. For example, both People v. Santorelli, 5 N.Y.2d 412, 420-421, 41 N.E.2d 493, 497 (N.Y. 2000), and Floyd v. State, 902 So.2d 775, 778 (Fla. 2005), speak of “the search for truth in criminal cases.”Laudan begins with this premise and explores how well the American criminal justice system does the job of searching for truth. His verdict? Not very well. As Laudan dissects our criminal justice system, he demonstrates that it is driven by numerous considerations which have nothing whatsoever to do with discovery of the truth and which actually impede the determination of truth. As Laudan sees things, the system is in dire need of repair, and in the closing chapter he makes some modest suggestions for improving it.I think it highly unlikely that any of Laudan’s suggestions will ever be implemented, but I do believe his critique is one which everyone involved in criminal justice should seriously consider. If this were to happen, we might possibly prevent further erosion of our ability to determine truth in criminal trials.

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