Abstract
Judge Richard Posner, formerly of the Seventh Circuit, once wrote, “the courtroom is not the place for scientific guesswork, even of the inspired sort. Law lags science; it does not lead it.” The particular occasion for this maxim was a case in which Judge Posner disregarded the testimony of an expert witness who claimed the use of a nicotine patch had caused the plaintiff to suffer a heart attack—a claim with “no backing from scientific theory or data.” Cutting-edge technology is antithetical to the law, which is better-suited to an era of horse-drawn carriages and often requires judicial guesswork to apply ancient doctrines to modern technologies. And social media is one technology that develops faster than the speed of law, making judges fear “embarrass[ing] the future.”
Recommended Citation
Andrew A. Bohon,
Faster than the Speed of Law: Data Privacy and Judicial Deference in Matters of Technological Development and Social Media,
91 Mo. L. Rev.
(2026)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol91/iss1/10