Toxic Torts: Science, Law And The Possibility Of Justice

This page intentionally left blank Toxic Torts The U.S. tort, or personal injury law, cloaked behind increased judicial review of science, is changing before our eyes, except we cannot see it. U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning with Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical altered how courts review scientific testimony and its foundation in the law. The complexity of both science and the law mask the overall social consequences of these decisions. Yet they are too important to remain hidden. Mistaken reviews of scientific evidence can decrease citizen access to the law, increase incentives for firms not to test their products, lower deterrence for wrongful conduct and harmful products, and decrease the possibility of justice for citizens injured by toxic substances. Even if courts review evidence well, greater judicial scrutiny increases litigation costs and attorney screening of clients and decreases citizens’ access to the law. This book introduces these issues, reveals the relationships that can deny citizens just restitution for harms suffered, and shows how justice can be enhanced in toxic tort cases. Carl F. Cranor is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. His work focuses on issues concerning the legal and scientific adjudication of risks from toxic substances and from the new genetic technologies. He has written Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law (1993), edited Are Genes Us? The Social Consequences of the New Genetics (1994), and coauthored the U.S. Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment report, Identifying and Regulating Carcinogens (1987). His articles have appeared in diverse journals such as The American Philosophical Quarterly, Ethics, Law and Contemporary Problems, Risk Analysis, and the American Journal of Public Health. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Collegium Ramazzini and a member of the Center for Progressive Reform, a nonprofit think tank of legal scholars committed to protecting the public health and the environment. Toxic Torts Science, Law, and the Possibility of Justice Carl F. Cranor University of California, Riverside cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521861823 © Carl F. Cranor 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge Univers