The Law and Principles of Evidence in Cyberspace

Work continues apace on Spindle Law's evidence module. The worker bees on the evidence module are, at present, Peter Tillers and Joannes Vinarao-Pilapil.
In the event you forgot: The "evidence module" is akin, in varying degrees, to the following:

a mini-treatise on the law of evidence (mainly the U.S. federal law of evidence)

a taxonomy of the law of evidence

an outline of the law of evidence

a budding intelligent data base about the law of evidence

a platform for collaborative development -- via the astonishing thing called the internet -- of an intelligent (and free) storehouse of knowledge, analysis, and argument about the law of evidence.

Of all of the above categories, the last probably best captures the spirit of the evidence module. (But in time -- as the evidence module grows -- the evidence module should become wider and deeper in certain respects than any existing treatise on the law of evidence.)

Joannes and I have been diligently working on various parts of the evidence module, including those parts relating to proof procedure, relevance, undue prejudice, hearsay, impeachment, and privileges. But much remains to be done.

Our work on the propensity rule (including "other crimes evidence"), evidence of habit and routine practice, and related matters is most nearly ready for a public beta release. The Spindle Law web site has recently been upgraded. Before releasing this part of the module, we and David Gold and his colleagues need to work out some issues about matters such as the handling of (i) exceptions to rules and (ii) case parentheticals and case summaries. In addition, Joannes and I want to be sure there is enough commentary in the initial beta material to whet the appetite of those of you out there -- those creative souls in the legal community -- who might enjoy taking part in public discussion, debate, and development of a storehouse of professionally-informed knowledge about the law of evidence in the United States.

I am excited by this experiment with an evidence module, an experiment made possible by Spindle Law. While the evidence module may not cure the world's ills -- or even the ills of the legal system --, I think it may, in a small way, contribute to the welfare of our society and to knowledge of an important part of the American legal system. Less grandiosely, I hope and I believe that the evidence module will be useful to "legal professionals" such as judges, lawyers, law students, and law professors.

So stay tuned. I will be asking for your thoughts, your advice, and your contributions. And please note: Should you want that to happen, your name will be attached to your contributions (however large or small) to the evidence module, and thus -- should you wish to accept it -- you have a chance to gain more than just a paltry 15 minutes of fame.