Kaye to reflect on Hall v. Florida at international statistics conference

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- Penn State Law associate dean for research David H. Kaye will present his paper “Deadly Statistics: IQ Scores and Capital Punishment in Hall v. Florida” on August 12 at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle.

Kaye’s invited talk centers on the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Hall v. Florida, which struck down a Florida rule that no one with an IQ score above 70 could be considered intellectually disabled. The Florida law originated in response to a prior Supreme Court ruling that held that executing an intellectually disabled individual is unconstitutional.

In striking down this rule, the court split 5 to 4 over the legal implications of measurement error and the statistics used to express a "margin of error." Kaye’s presentation will evaluate the justices' understanding of the statistical concepts and the relationship between standard errors in true scores and the legal burden of persuasion.

Kaye, who also serves as the Weiss Family Faculty Scholar and Distinguished Professor of Law at Penn State Law, is an expert on scientific evidence and statistics in law. He holds degrees from MIT, Harvard, and Yale universities. His publications include 12 books and more than 170 articles and letters in journals of law, philosophy, psychology, medicine, genetics, and statistics. He has taught evidence, law and science, criminal law and procedure, constitutional law, torts, law and economics, legal philosophy, and international human rights law.

The Joint Statistical Meetings is the largest gathering of statisticians held in North America. It is held jointly with the American Statistical Association, International Biometric Society, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Statistical Society of Canada, International Chinese Statistical Association, International Indian Statistical Association, Korean International Statistical Society, International Society for Bayesian Analysis, Royal Statistical Society, and International Statistical Institute. Attended by more than 6,000 people, meeting activities include oral presentations, panel sessions, poster presentations, professional development courses, an exhibit hall, the Career Placement Service, society and section business meetings, committee meetings, social activities, and networking opportunities.