Excited Utterance

The Law and Science of Eyewitness Evidence. Brandon Garrett from Duke University and Thomas Albright from the Salk Institute discuss the latest research on the reliability of eyewitness testimony and related reforms that have surfaced from courts and legislatures.

Expertise in Crisis. Dave Caudill from Villanova University discusses the current crisis expertise and how a more modest and sociological view of scientific inquiry might encourage greater acceptance of consensus science.

Neuroscience, Neutrality, and the Rules of Evidence.

Steven Friedland and Amy Overman from Elon University discuss how neuroscience findings about our cognitive biases should inform the way we think about the rules of evidence, and whether those rules can ever truly be neutral.

The Neglected Origins of the Hearsay Rule in American Slavery. David Sklansky of Stanford Law School discusses the Supreme Court case of Queen v. Hepburn, a freedom suit in the early Republic which proved to be a turning point in the development of the hearsay rule in American evidence law.

Digital Habit Evidence. Andrew Ferguson from American University discusses the habit rule under Rule 406, and how the Internet of Things and digital habit evidence might change its importance in the future.

Are the Federal Rules of Evidence Unconstitutional? Ethan Leib from Fordham University asks whether the way in which the Federal Rules of Evidence came into being and the structure by which they are amended violates constitutional separation of powers.

Domestic Homicides Since Giles v. California. Caren Morrison from George State University explores how courts have handled domestic homicide cases in the wake of Giles v. California, which narrowed the forfeiture exception to the Confrontation Clause.

The False Promise of Pena-Rodriguez. Daniel Harawa from Washington University in St. Louis discusses the problem of racial bias in jury deliberations, and how Rule 606(b), despite the Supreme Court's decision in Pena-Rodriguez, still shields much of it from redress.

Overhauling Rules of Evidence in Pro Se Courts. Andrew Budzinski from the University of the District of Columbia argues why the traditional rules of evidence are inappropriate for courts with largely pro se litigants, and discussed what rules if any should replace them.

Virtual Trials. Susan Bandes from DePaul College of Law discusses the use of virtual trials prompted by the pandemic, their future, as well as what lessons we can learn from them about in-person trials.