"Science" and "the Law"

Too frequently it is not clear what science is. And yet scientific methods are valued by factfinders (i.e., judges and juries), who are trying to improve their decision-making, in order to facilitate just legal outcomes. Accordingly, it is important for forensic mental health professionals and legal professionals to think through salient definitions of science, as a way of avoiding blanket statements about the so-called science and what it is saying. It is also valuable to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. It is equally important for forensic mental health professionals and legal professionals to consider the main sources of law-namely, constitutions, statutes, and legal cases-and the conceptual overlap that exists between "science" and "the law." This is the focus of the present chapter.