Let's not rethink the system.

I am writing in response to "Rethink the System" letter in the November 15 News by Stephen Schoeman. In his letter, Mr. Schoeman argues that our adversarial system of justice is "medieval," "selfish," and does not serve the public interest or truth. Rather than allow litigants to advocate their respective positions before citizen juries, Mr. Schoeman proposes a "scientific" approach whereby neutral and supposedly objective experts would engage in an enlightened pursuit of truth free from any taint of self-interest.

With all due respect, this proposal shows an astonishing lack of familiarity with human nature in general and the adversarial system in particular.

All humans are subjective and self-interested, whether they be litigants, attorneys, judges, jurors, and, yes, even scientists. To assert that scientists or other experts constitute a priestly class existing beyond the realm of human fallibility is laughable. Scientists are just as biased and self-interested as the rest of us, a fact made all the more apparent by revelations of chicanery in the environmental sciences (where toeing a particular line opens the doors to public funding).

The adversarial system was forged through centuries of experience--not confined to the Middle Ages, by the way--and is wise enough to take us as we are rather than as we should be. Through the clash of competing interests, the adversarial system allows us to pursue truth collectively even if we might fail to do so individually. A jury is well-equipped to monitor this clash precisely because jurors are ordinary people familiar...