Data analysis of spatial data is complicated further by legal standards of evidence and presentation contained within the Rules of Civil Procedure, especially discovery, and within the Rules of Evidence. In particular, the 1993 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. abandoned the Frye test and provides new, uncertain guidelines, based primarily upon judicial discretion, for the admissibility of expert witnesses and scientific information. The following is an edited transcript of the presentation by Dr. Simmons given on October 30, 1994. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Mr. Kottman, for a fine introduction to some of the issues I wish to address.
Certification is an important issue.
Data for GIS users is evidence for lawyers and judges. In the legal system, judges do all the certifying, thank you very much. During this conference, we have discussed intellectual property, privacy, access to information, tort law and various other ways GIS professionals and users might find themselves involved with the law. All of this is true enough. Anyone can be sued.