CHILDRENS ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE - FORENSIC AND SCIENTIFIC ISSUES - A REPLY TO COMMENTATORS

In this rebuttal, the authors summarize and reply to many of the comme nts made about the amicus brief. In Section I, they address issues tha t are commonly raised by ''pro-child'' advocates in their attacks on t he scientific data regarding children's suggestibility. In Section II, they consider issues related to the proper scope of an amicus brief. In the third section, they focus on the concepts of reliability, credi bility, and competence and argue that only reliability was an issue in Michaels. In Section IV, they consider some of the procedures involve d in taint hearings. The final section, the broadest in scope, covers some legal, forensic, and scientific developments that have occurred s ince Michaels.