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Past Reports
4/28/2010
Responses from our readers on DNA Fixation editorial
"Crime Lab Report’s recent editorial on “DNA fixation”
generated more responses than any editorial in the history of our
publication. Many of the responses were thoughtful, others
were not. We think that you will find the following messages
to our editorial board to be enlightening, educational, and, for one
at least, somewhat humorous."
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3/17/2010
DNA fixation is harmful to justice system and offensive to crime victims
"During the four hours it took Crime
Lab Report to write this article, over 1,200 cases were worked by
public crime laboratories in the
United States. Less than 150 of
those cases relied upon DNA testing. Congress must pay attention to
the work of laboratory scientists like the fingerprint experts in Georgia who
brought justice, and some closure, to the memory of a schoolteacher
slain in a parking lot while waiting to give her daughter a ride home
from work."
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2/22/2010
Forensic Science Commissions: A waste of taxpayer dollars? You
be the judge.
"One can reasonably suspect that the
individuals involved may have felt pressured to move cases out the
door in a timely manner – a cultural problem, if you will, that
becomes exacerbated when resources are not sufficient to keep
laboratory capacity in line with demand."
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1/20/2010
Innocence activism 'contaminates' forensic evidence, study warns
"A comprehensive look at post-conviction litigation
practices written by Crime Lab Report’s managing editors was
recently published in the 2009 Journal of the Institute for the
Advancement of Criminal Justice. IACJ is a
nonprofit research organization based in Sacramento,
California."
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12/16/2009
From Detroit to Boston - A tale of two cities
"On September 25, 2008, the city of
Detroit
made the decision to shut down the police lab, citing
concern that the problems of the firearms unit likely indicated a
systemic problem that potentially affected the other forensic
disciplines as well. The lab's sworn police officers were
reassigned to other positions in the Detroit Police Department.
The civilian employees were either shifted to other jobs within city
government or given the opportunity to apply for forensic science
positions within the State Police laboratory system." 12/16/09
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11/24/2009 Stochastics - The real science behind forensic pattern ID
"The patterns observed in latent
fingerprints, on bullets, in a person’s handwriting or on
the bottom surface of their shoes are also the results of
stochastic processes that cannot be controlled.
Patterns that result from these processes are judged
to be unique mainly because decades of observation and
research have only validated the formulation of such
judgments."
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10/23/2009 Another helping of forensic politics - Texas style
"It just may be that the tactics of many
post-conviction litigators are now creating a demand for new
professional oversight, continuing education, and codes of
conduct for attorneys who present forensic evidence in
post-conviction proceedings. The situation has gotten
so out-of-hand, and there are now so many instances where
forensic evidence appears to have been misinterpreted during
the post-conviction process, that leaders in the legal and
judicial communities should step forward immediately."
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9/16/2009 Post-conviction
activists 'contaminate' evidence in Texas
"Crime Lab Report
has no opinion about Willingham’s guilt or innocence in this
case. We do, however, have a strong opinion about the
willingness of post-conviction activists to mischaracterize
forensic evidence for the purpose of achieving desired
political and judicial outcomes."
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8/24/2009 Voices of History - America's Sherlock Holmes in the early
years of forensic science
"Luke Sylvester
May was known as America’s Sherlock Holmes. For all
intents and purposes, he was the first to apply the
fascinating scientific methods portrayed by Arthur Conan
Doyle in real life criminal cases in the United States."
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7/15/2009 High Court tackles forensic reports in landmark ruling
"Laboratories that rely on the business-records exception to the
hearsay rule as way to reduce costs may experience new challenges in
the wake of the Melendez-Diaz
ruling, of which the dissenting justices were keenly aware.
There is an understandable fear that scientists will now have
to appear at more trials, spending valuable time traveling to court
and waiting to testify."
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5/20/2009 New generation of journalism creates opportunities - and
responsibilities - for crime laboratories
"Forensic science laboratories in the United States are slowly
taking back control of how they are perceived by the public.
This comes after two decades of turmoil created by activists who
were often enabled by willing accomplices in the media. But
now there appears to be an up-and-coming generation of journalists
who are stubbornly eager to get their stories straight."
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4/15/2009 Voices of History: The father of firearm
identification speaks. A Conversation with Dr. Calvin Goddard
"In its new
Voices of History
series, Crime Lab Report
conducts imaginary interviews with pioneers and thinkers who
were critical to the development of today’s forensic sciences.
In their own words, we learn of their contributions, their
setbacks, and their perspective on contemporary issues facing
the profession."
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3/18/2009 Congress must protect forensic science from bad politics
"The NAS committee
was charged by Congress to identify the needs of the
forensic science community. The evidence shows
conclusively that forensic science is in need of resources, not
additional regulation. But if a National Institute of
Forensic Science is created, Congress must ensure that the
institute is staffed with proven leaders and practitioners who
know the inner workings of crime laboratories and medical
examiner/coroner’s offices and have track records of excellence
in the forensic sciences and forensic science management."
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3/3/2009 (Special Report) National Academy of Sciences Report
"Crime Lab Report resisted the
temptation to act quickly on the release of the report – opting
to let the dust settle before digging deeply into its 255 pages
of observations and recommendations. To our surprise, what
we discovered was a report that was considerably sympathetic to
the plight of many forensic practitioners and their
laboratories."
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2/18/2009 Yet Another
Wrongful Conviction Misattributed to Faulty Science
"Crime Lab Report contacted
the forensic examiner who testified in the Steven Barnes trial.
We were told emphatically that the soil and fabric-pattern evidence
were non-specific and could not be used to identify the
perpetrator."
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1/21/2009
Forensic Pattern Identification: A history
lesson, and some advice, for Saks and Faigman
"Crime Lab Report
is troubled by Professors Saks' and Faigman's failure to do due
diligence in their review of the available literature. If they
are unhappy with the fact that they could not find the evidence
of research and scholarly review that they would expect, we
would politely argue that they should have looked a bit harder.
The evidence they seek cannot be found in the
New York Times, legal journals,
or papers written by misguided academicians who have joined the chorus of
forensic science critics hoping to bring attention to themselves and their
universities."
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12/17/2008 Prosecutors don't belong in the crime lab business
"We know that there are
outstanding and trustworthy scientists working in the small
number of crime labs operated by prosecutors’ offices.
But we also know that the pressure
placed on prosecutors to win, particularly in today’s legal
climate, can imperceptibly erode the kind of culture that is
necessary to facilitate the dispassionate practice of forensic
science."
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11/19/2008 Business -
the lifeblood of forensic science
"The profession of
forensic science relies heavily on research and advancements in technology;
therefore, entrepreneurial endeavors will always be a key measure of progress in
the field whether they are fully appreciated as such or not."
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10/20/2008
Crime Labs Under the Police - Unresolved Issues
"In our judgment, the badge has nothing to do with a
police-commander's ability to run a crime laboratory. What does seem to
matter, however, is a solid academic background and a commitment to shelter
scientists from the politics and paramilitaristic attitudes found in many
police organizations."
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8/20/2008
Pharmacists,
Doctors, and Forensic Scientists
"Crime Lab Report
believes that many publicly-funded crime labs are dealing with some of the
same problems that were identified in the USA Today study. Some are
so understaffed that they can't handle their caseloads. And with budgets
being cut and many facilities exceeding their expected life spans, an
increased emphasis on productivity and efficiency can wear down even the
most committed scientist."
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7/16/2008
New Study 'Exonerates' Forensic Science
"It is true that mistakes and
misjudgments do happen in crime laboratories, mainly because forensic scientists
are human beings and all professions struggle with some instances of
malpractice. Doctors make mistakes. Lawyers and judges make
mistakes. And sometimes forensic scientists make mistakes. But there
is no basis to suggest that forensic science is inherently more susceptible to
failure than other professions of equal significance and criticality."
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6/18/2008 Licensing, Accreditation, or Certification?
"It is important to understand,
however, that professional licensure usually arises from within a
particular industry whose leaders and members decide that restricting the
size of the labor market, as well as the credentials needed to gain entry,
will be beneficial for all. By keeping out and kicking out “undesirables,”
licensing is thought to help elevate the perceived reputation and salaries
of those on the inside."
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