The Boston Globe reports here that the ACLU finally obtained through litigation a list of cases potentially affected by ex-state chemist Annie Dookham’s work – a full “quarter of the successful prosecutions by the district attorneys that used her laboratory.”  Needless to say, a tiny fraction of those cases have been reopened.  Indeed, “the vast majority of defendants who were convicted based on evidence that Dookhan tested have not been notified she was involved in their cases, or that they can appeal their convictions.”

Is a new case-review approach required?  “This new information and the latest drug lab scandal in Massachusetts show that a case-by-case approach to this massive problem cannot serve the cause of justice or restore the integrity of our criminal justice system. We need a comprehensive solution,” said Dan Marx, an attorney who worked on the litigation before the Supreme Judicial Court.