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Section 1 - Decarceration and Abolition

from Part III - Expanding Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2026

Bennett Capers
Affiliation:
Fordham University, New York
Jasmine E. Harris
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Julia Simon-Kerr
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Summary

Critical Evidence taps into a growing body of scholarship that demonstrates evidence law is fundamentally about power, setting the boundaries of whose voices will be heard and what types of knowledge will be cognizable in courts of law in the United States. The book brings together leading and emerging Critical Evidence scholars to examine the major rules that govern admissibility in court, from relevancy to hearsay to privileges. These scholars show that many such rules are not neutral as constructed or applied, but, in fact, privilege insiders at the expense of outsiders, namely poor people, women, people of color, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people. Through a close reading of rules and doctrine, Critical Evidence shows that evidence law must and should change in order to serve as a system that promotes truth, justice, and fairness for all in the American legal system.

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