  The synchrotron shock model (SSM) for gamma-ray burst emission makes a
testable prediction: that the observed low-energy power-law photon number
spectral index cannot exceed -2/3 (where the photon model is defined with a
positive index: dN/dE is proportional to E^alpha). We have collected
time-resolved spectral fit parameters for over 100 bright bursts observed by
the Burst And Transient Source Experiment on board the Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory. Using this database, we find 23 bursts in which the spectral index
limit of the SSM is violated. We discuss elements of the analysis methodology
that affect the robustness of this result, as well as some of the escape
hatches left for the SSM by theory.
