Updated second edition of 'Judges Science Bench Book' now available to download

Keeping the “Science Bench Book for Judges” current and the most comprehensive scientific evidence bench book published, an updated and revised Second Edition of is now downloadable free from Justice Speakers Institute (http://justicespeakersinstitute.com/science-bench-book), gateway to justice system leaders worldwide and originator of the project, and from project partner, National Judicial College (NJC), the nation’s largest provider of judicial education. The project was funded by the State Justice Institute.

Judges are tasked with “gatekeeping” of scientific evidence in the courtroom, deciding whether to admit or exclude time-honored as well as new types of scientific evidence. A judge may have the online, searchable Science Bench Book for Judges by her side as a guide while ruling from the bench during pre-trial, trial, and post-trial proceedings in both civil and criminal cases.

Justice Stephen Breyer, U. S. Supreme Court, said, “It has become ever more apparent that judges must have some understanding of science. They must be able to judge fairly in cases having a scientific content. They must be able to separate ‘junk science’ from genuine science. This book is a helpful and necessary effort to provide judges with knowledge and techniques that will help them work with scientific subject matter.”

The bench book is authored by esteemed justices including the Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget M. McCormack, an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, a retired associate justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, trial judges and practitioners. The address by National Judicial College President Benes Z. Aldana titled “What is Science?” introduces the bench book.

Since it became available on July 1, 2019, hundreds of copies of the book have been downloaded by judicial leaders across the nation. “It is our hope,” said JSI co-founder and Judge MacKenzie, “that with these critical materials, judges will be able to guard against relying too heavily on imperfect scientific tests, testimony, and evidence.”