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Opinion: Nixon should sign expert witness bill

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Gov. Jay Nixon can lead Missouri courts into the 21st century by signing a bill that requires judges to use the federal standard for admitting expert witness testimony in civil and criminal cases.  

Senate Bill 591 sheds an antiquated rule of law abandoned by the federal courts and 39 other states. The bill promotes fair treatment of all parties by making judges the gatekeepers of expert testimony and prohibiting unproven junk science in judicial proceedings – a needless complication at trials and cause for confusing juries.  
 
Reforming the state’s expert witness standard is neither new nor novel.

Missouri adopted its statute in 1989 when Gov. Nixon was a young state senator. Subsequently, a trio of U.S. Supreme Court cases redefined the federal standard and led to amending the Federal Rules of Evidence on expert witness testimony in 2000 when Nixon was attorney general. For almost a decade, then Attorney General Nixon’s office qualified expert witnesses in federal court and, over the last 15 years, 39 states – including seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri – have adopted the same standard for expert witness testimony.
 
Now is the time to bring those changes to Missouri’s state courts.  
 
The National Conference for State Courts, of which Missouri is a member, conducted an exhaustive study on state usage of the federal expert witness standard. The study concluded that adopting the federal standard did not result in unnecessary court costs or delays. Using the federal standard did not create a time consuming obstacle to litigants.
 
The NCSC study found the federal standard actually made courts more efficient and litigation less complicated – a benefit for the judiciary and all Missourians. Allowing judges to limit an expert’s testimony when there are significant questions concerning the expert’s methods, or the general reliability of the testimony, narrows the issues at trial, resulting in fewer trials and more cases being resolved outside of the courtroom.
 
Most states have adopted the federal standard for expert witness testimony by rule or court decision. However, at least seven states have enacted similar statutes signed by their respective governors.
 
More than 30 witnesses representing businesses, associations, law enforcement and prosecutors from across Missouri testified in support of this measure. In their view, this law is a small, reasonable step toward improving a litigation environment many consider too slow, too expensive and denying justice to too many. Adopting the federal standard for expert witnesses will make our judicial system more fair, efficient and responsive to the needs of Missouri’s citizens and businesses alike.
 
Nixon has a great opportunity to modernize Missouri’s courts by signing SB 591.

Dan Mehan is president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He can be reached at dmehan@mochamber.com.

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