The third edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence was developed in collaboration with the Federal Judicial Center, which produced the previous editions, and is intended to assist judges with the management of cases involving complex scientific and technical evidence.  It is not intended, however, to instruct judges on what evidence should be admissible. The third edition updates and expands chapters from previous editions and includes new chapters on topics including neuroscience, mental health, and forensic science.

Project scope

At the request of the Federal Judicial Center (FJC), and in collaboration with the FJC, CSTL developed the third edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence. The Reference Manual assists judges in managing cases involving complex scientific and technical evidence by describing the basic tenets of key scientific fields from which legal evidence is typically derived and providing examples of cases in which that evidence has been used. The development of the third edition followed the basic structure of the second edition, but includes, in addition to updates, new topics and annotated case citations. An ad hoc committee under the auspices of CSTL took the lead in producing the reference manual, i.e., developing, approving, publishing, and disseminating the manual. This work was guided by the committee procedures of the National Research Council, and the final text underwent review through the Academies' formal review process. 

MEETINGS & EVENTS

October 13, 2009
Washington, DC

Meeting closed in its entirety.

March 30, 2009
Washington, DC

Meeting closed in its entirety

November 11, 2008
Washington, DC

Meeting closed in its entirety

June 17, 2008
Washington, DC

Agenda

April 15-16, 2008
Washington, DC

Agenda

November 26-27, 2007
Washington, DC

Agenda

Reports

The Committee on the Development of the Third Edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence released third edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence at a public briefing on September 28, 2011. 

Press Release
Listen to the Briefing

MEMBERSHIP

Jerome Kassirer (Co-chair)
Distinguished Professor
Tufts University School of Medicine
Boston, MA

Gladys Kessler (Co-chair)
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Washington, DC

Ming Chin
The Supreme Court of California
San Francisco, CA

Pauline Newman
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Washington, DC 
 
Kathleen O’Malley
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Washington, DC 
 
Jed Rakoff
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
New York, NY 

Channing Robertson
Ruth G. and William K. Bowes Professor, Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs, and Professor Department of Chemical Engineering
School of Engineering
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 

Joseph Rodricks
Principal
Environ
Arlington, VA 

Allen Wilcox
Senior Investigator
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Research Triangle Park, NC 

Sandy Zabell
Professor of Statistics and Mathematics
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences    
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL 

Advisor to the Committee:

Joe Cecil
Project Director, Program on Scientific and Technical Evidence
Federal Judicial Center

Sponsors

This project was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Starr Foundation.