The Impact of Daubert on the Admissibility of Forensic Anthropology Expert Testimony

Forensic anthropologists anticipated a significant impact from the 1993 Supreme Court Daubert decision, which addressed the standard of admissibility for expert testimony. In response, many forensic articles cited Daubert in the search for objective techniques or a critique of established subjective methods. This study examines challenges to forensic anthropological expert testimony to evaluate whether Daubert has actually affected the admissibility of such testimony. Thirty cases were identified that addressed the admissibility of the testimony, including 14 cases prior to Daubert and 16 after Daubert. Examination of these cases indicates that post‐Daubert cases do not result in more exclusions. Yet, this lack of exclusions may instead be viewed as a manifestation of the field's overall surge toward more objective and quantifiable techniques in a self‐regulating response to Daubert.     

The RCMP's “Mr. Big” sting operation: A case study in police independence,accountability and oversight

This paper analyses the RCMP's “Mr. Big” undercover investigation technique, which involves the use of undercover officers posing as high‐ranking members of a criminal organization. These officers befriend a target (the suspect) and promise the suspect that their leader (Mr. Big) can help the target in several ways; in exchange, the officers demand that the suspect truthfully reveal past criminal activity to establish credibility and protect the organization against surprises. There appears to be little interest on the part of state actors, other than the courts, in reducing police independence and providing more accountability and oversight for Mr. Big and other undercover operations. Yet, as parts of Canada's criminal justice system, such operations deserve scrutiny because of their cost and potential for wrongful convictions. This article calls for oversight of the police by several actors, including legislators providing guidelines for police investigations, closer judicial scrutiny and executive oversight of police operations, and improved police training.     

Rethinking the Merit Principle in Judicial Selection

Against the background of the continuing lack of diversity in the makeup of the judiciary in England and Wales, this article explores the reasons behind the consistent rejection of affirmative action policies in relation to the judicial appointment process. It examines the relationship between affirmative action and the merit principle in this context and argues that the belief that the two are inherently in tension rests on implicit assumptions about both which are open to question.