Science in Court: An analysis of climate change litigation in the US from 1990 to 2018

• In Event: 2251 - Section on Environmental Sociology Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 12. Sustainability

Abstract

The project evaluates how science is used in climate change litigation in the United States from 1990 to 2018. Using sequential explanatory mixed methods approach with a sample of 338 lawsuits filtered from the database of 838 lawsuits developed from the previous NSF-funded project with Sabrina McCormick et al., I evaluate 1) the types of scientific evidence presented in these lawsuits and their correlation with lawsuit outcomes, 2) the demand- and supply-chain of scientific information into courtrooms, and 3) the framing of scientific uncertainty in legal disputes. The result of this project can potentially transform our understanding of how science is introduced, discussed, framed, and used in the judicial branch and, more broadly, in the field of government policymaking.

Author

• Daniel Kim, George Washington University