Re: "Scientific Evidence"

[Al Tschaeche <antatnsu@pacbell.net>]

Jerry Cohen wrote:  I wonder just what would constitute "scientific evidence".

In a court of law we will never know.  The lawyers keep changing the rules.  For
example, in the North County Times of July 29, 2000 there is an article titled
"Court orders new trial in San Onofre case."  In the original trial a federal
jury in San Diego decided in March 1998 that radioactive contamination did not
cause Ellen Kennedy's cancer.  On July 20, 2000 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals
overturned that verdict because, it said, US District Court Judge Napoleon Jones
erred when he declined to read to jurors an instruction that the Kennedy
family's attorneys had requested.  Judge Hawkins of the 9th US Circuit Court of
Appeals said that the jury should have been instructed that the Kennedys did not
have to prove that radiation actually contributed to Ellen Kennedy's cancer, but
that "the exposure in reasonable medical probability was a 'substantial factor'
in contributing to the risk of cancer."   Hawkins wrote, "To rule in favor of
the Kennedys, the jury needed to find only a more than theoretical or negligible
chance that the radiation contributed to her cancer."

With court decisions like this, one can only give up hope that any reason will
prevail.  I guess, in the US, every person who gets cancer should be paid a
fixed amount by the Federal Government and let it go at that.  We'd save a bunch
in lawyer fees, maybe enough to pay for the cancer payments.  However, at a 25%
cancer incidence and 280 million people, that's 70 million with cancer, and, if
each payment were $100000, that's $7,000,000,000,000.  That's less than half of
one year's US Gross Domestic Product.  On second thought, it's not such a good
idea.  Even the lawyers don't make that much.  Yet.  Al Tschaeche
antatnsu@pacbell.net

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