Economics professor Tilman Klumpp is among a group of 23 economists and social scientists who recently submitted an amici curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court not to question the utility of statistical methods in civil litigation. The group, which includes Nobel laureate Robert Solow, urges the Court to embrace the value of statistical analysis as a category of proof instead. Their brief was filed in support of Respondents in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Peg Bouaphakeo, et al., one of several current Supreme Court cases concerning individual rights to collective action in the U.S. The scientists warn that a broad ruling that limits the use of statistical evidence in class certification and other phases of complex litigation as a matter of law would deprive courts of valuable information and lead to negative consequences in a wide range of cases. Read the entire brief here.
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