A story here by Spencer Hsu on the decision by the Attorney General to end the National Commission on Forensic Science – and suspend a review of forensic science methods.  The Post also made available an advance copy of the… Continue Reading →

Streaming now at this link.

The House Judiciary Committee held hearings to examine the state of forensic science in the United States.  The transcript is here. Written testimony was submitted as well, from Dr. Victor Weedn, G.W. University, Mr. Matthew Gamette, Lab System Director, Idaho… Continue Reading →

Grits for Breakfast, nom de guerre of astute criminal justice commentator and new Director of the Innocence Project of Texas, offers its thoughts on the five junkiest junk sciences.

The recent pre-publication draft of the PCAST report on forensic science describes faults and fixes for many forensic disciplines, including DNA, firearms, fingerprints, impression evidence, and bitemarks. Numerous stakeholders have already criticized the report on a variety of points, including… Continue Reading →

Forensic Science Reform Protecting the Innocent Elsevier, 2017.  ISBN: 978-0-12-802719-6 Edited by Wendy J. Koen and C. Michael Bowers Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis, Max M. Houck Microscopic Hair Comparison, Max M. Houck Arson, John Lentini and Rachel Dioso-Villa Shaken Baby… Continue Reading →

The Amanda Knox/Raffaele Sollecito case introduced some observers to the uses and misuses of presumptive and confirmatory blood tests. The use of two stages of testing is encountered in at least two forensic disciplines:  testing for body fluids (blood, saliva,… Continue Reading →

A comment on a proposal being considered by the CFSO – draft legislation that would create an Office of Forensic Science within the Department of Justice (here is a link to the draft as of Feb. 14, 2017): Putting an… Continue Reading →

“The mission of the Office of Forensic Science is to strengthen and promote the use of forensic science within the judicial system by supporting forensic science service providers, as they continually improve the validity, quality, and practice of forensic science through innovative… Continue Reading →

Dr. Greg Hampikian, a professor in criminal justice and biology at Boise State University, came to the aid of Daryl Pinkins and Roosevelt Glen. Pinkins and Glen were sentenced to a combined 101 years in prison after they were wrongly convicted of… Continue Reading →