Courts and Statistics: Varieties of Statistical Challenges

This talk will look at some of the different ways in which statistical analyses can figure in trials or on appeal and will discuss ways in which these differences give rise to different challenges that courts and statistical experts will have to meet.  For example, when statistics are used to challenge the make-up of juries the issues posed and the models used will be different than those that are posed when statistics are used to establish claims of discriminatory hiring, and the issues posed when courts draw on statistics to help resolve either of these matters will differ from issues that arise when statistics are used to convey the probative value of DNA evidence.