Convictions Without Truth sets out to determine whether and to what
extent science and law may coexist in an institutional relationship that
truthfully generates individualization through application of forensic
testimony for charges relating to violations of criminal law.
In the first two chapters, readers are exposed to contemporary
unscientific forensic practices as juxtaposed to the evidentiary
standard announced by the United States Supreme Court in Daubert v.
Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals, as well as scientific requirements for
validity and reliability of expert witness testimony. The remaining
chapters provide an explanation for retention of existing, though
faulty, forensic practices by way of analysis of path dependency, the
fixation of belief, and neuro and cognitive psychology. Through immanent
critique and unmasking, the book deconstructs prevailing forensic
practices through application of existing published documentation. The
final chapter addresses the fixation of belief from the perspective of
neuropsychology and cognitive psychology. Readers will gain an
understanding of the current concerns relating to application of
contemporary forensic practices; current case law and federal rules
guiding the introduction of expert witness testimony; and why it is that
despite widely recognized concerns raised from within and outside of the
criminal legal system, application of unscientific forensic practices
continues. The book also shows how the criminal legal system is
experiencing a paradigm shift due to dialectical juxtaposition of
existing unscientific forensic practices with contemporary science.
Readers are shown that because of its continued reliance upon
unscientific forensic practices, the criminal legal system reveals its
hegemonic commitment to social control through its willingness to accept
"satisfying" as opposed to "truthful" results that generate wrongful
convictions.
Convictions Without Truth will be of particular interest to students,
academics, and practitioners working within the criminal legal field. It
will also appeal to those wanting to know more about forensics and
criminal law.
