January 21, 2009 by Crime Lab Report

Michael J. Saks of Arizona State University and David L. Faigman of the University of California at San Francisco have become increasingly effective advocates for what they argue is a better brand of forensic science.  From their perspective, the pattern identification disciplines such as those involving the identification of latent prints, firearms & toolmarks, and shoe impressions do not meet the standards to which they argue real science must conform. 

A blistering critique titled Failed Forensics: How Forensic Science Lost its Way and How it Might Yet Find It, was published by Saks and Faigman in July 2008 in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science.  In their words, pattern identification disciplines "have little or no basis in actual science.  They neither borrow from established science nor systematically test their hypotheses." 

As a courtesy to our readers, here is a quick peek at some of the claims that appeared in the aforementioned article:  

-  "The nonscience forensic sciences....are scientific failures in the sense that science...played little more than a rhetorical part in the development of these fields." 

-  "Absent any testing that can be replicated by other researchers and independently verified by courts, forensic identification science is not really a science at all." 

-  "Although knowledge from organic chemistry can be brought to bear in identifying what drugs, poisons, or medications might be discovered in a corpse found at a crime scene, what knowledge from conventional sciences like biology or chemistry or physics support the notion of individualization." 

-  "Most of the forensic identification sciences, however, missed the school bus.  They never joined the university system.....They became an instrument of law enforcement, largely controlled by police technicians and their superiors." 

- "If forensic individualization science had emerged from normal science, its approach and its techniques probably would resemble DNA typing, with its measurement of attributes, sampling of variation in populations, and statistical bases." 

In the better world that Saks and Faigman envision, "the underlying assumptions of forensic identification would be subjected to intense questioning and empirical testing. In the course of this work, researchers would report what they tested, how they tested it, and what they found. Their results—whether good, bad, or indifferent—would be reported with equal candor." 

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.   

In the better world that we envision, Saks and Faigman would have practiced what they preach.  They would have referenced any one of the numerous papers published over the last several decades in the Journal of Forensic Identification or the Journal of the Association of Firearm & Toolmark Examiners.  Perhaps we would have seen a mention of groundbreaking studies in firearm identification such as the one conducted by David Brundage and recently repeated by Dr. James Hamby, which will show an impressively low rate of error among several hundred firearm examiners tested from multiple countries worldwide. 

If Saks and Faigman had done their due diligence, they might have mentioned the extensive fingerprint and biometric research conducted by Lockheed Martin.  Maybe they would have educated their readers about the high-tech security systems that are based on the biometric reading of friction-ridge patterns – not to mention the underlying research and development that was necessary to bring these systems to market. These technologies are based on the same principles that undergird the work of reputable fingerprint examiners around the world.   

Finally, even the slightest bit of effort would have allowed Saks and Faigman to find and summarize the groundbreaking work sponsored by the Midwest Forensic Resource Center (MFRC) at the Ames Laboratory, which is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University.  Research investigators including Christophe Champod at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland are systematically invalidating claims by critics, including Michael Saks, that contextual bias in latent print verifications tends to corrupt the results of forensic examiners.   

In fact, it appears that the research may show the exact opposite to be true.  According to a research and development program summary published by the MFRC in October 2008: 

“…fingerprint experts under the biasing conditions provided significantly fewer definitive and erroneous conclusions than the control group.  They tended to provide opinions that were inconclusive.  

“Novice participants were more influenced by the bias conditions and did tend to make incorrect judgments, especially when prompted towards an incorrect response by the bias prompt.  This was not the case with the fingerprint experts.”   

The results of this research have been presented at national and international conferences.  Therefore, Crime Lab Report can only speculate why Saks and Faigman either missed it entirely or simply did not follow their own advice when they argued that good research must "maximize the contribution of the phenomenon under scrutiny and minimize the contribution of expectations and biases." 

In our view, Saks and Faigman are simply guilty of using their resources and academic affiliations to promote social changes despite overwhelming factual evidence that invalidates their core arguments.   

This kind of behavior is not research nor science.  It is activism. 

The public suffers immeasurably when activism is fraudulently packaged and presented as scholarly research.  But the trend will continue if more qualified professionals and professional organizations aren't willing to take the time or risk to vigorously challenge it. 

Crime Lab Report's managing editors are aware that they too have been labeled as activists by some who disagree with their point of view.  But there is a difference.  Crime Lab Report does not prioritize the promotion of specific changes.  It promotes the dissemination of accurate information about forensic science and is willing to accept whatever changes come as a result.   

That being said, we have a responsibility to acknowledge that Saks and Faigman offer a perspective that has some intellectual and scientific value; we will address this in a moment.   

In the meantime, we would like to offer Saks, Faigman, and other commentators a few valuable lessons that we hope will shape their thinking about disciplines practiced in forensic testing laboratories:   

1.  If DNA analysts could observe and compare DNA with their own eyes they would do it.  Examiners of latent prints, firearm evidence, and toolmarks are fortunate because they can actually observe the evidence in question.  They can see the ridge detail of a fingerprint and they can see the striae and impressions on fired bullets and cartridge cases.  They don't need instrumental data to tell them what they are looking at.  They can see it.  They can report it.  They can even photograph it.  Even better, the analytical processes in these disciplines rarely require them to consume evidence, which makes it available for others to review at a later time. 

2.  There is no such thing as a purely objective science.  All science requires that imperfect human beings draw conclusions about what they see and measure.  DNA and chemistry are no exceptions.  Even in mathematics, commonly described as the only pure science, calculations must be applied to real world problems using careful interpretation and professional judgment.  When all subjectivity is eliminated from an endeavor, science is no longer needed because there are no interpretations to govern.  Without interpretation, there is no science. 

3.  Universities do not have a monopoly on science.  Science does not require the control and oversight of universities as Saks and Faigman repeatedly emphasized.  While universities are highly regarded for their expertise and resources, their focus is more often drawn toward projects that bring notoriety and/or funding.  

Science is, and should be, a very inclusive institution that avails itself to any number of people seeking to solve any number of problems.  Its fundamental tenets demand that knowledge be gathered in a controlled and systematic way.  Then, when it comes time to apply this knowledge, practitioners must exercise professionalism, caution, and self-restraint so that they do not stray beyond what the accumulated knowledge can justify.  The forensic laboratory disciplines are very young when compared to other fields.  But as long as they continue to advance and provide knowledge that improves the human condition, they are traveling successfully on the path we call science.      

4.  Until recently, there was no economic justification for universities to invest in forensic research on a large programmatic scale.   It wasn't until the early 1960s that epidemic increases in crime necessitated the creation of the large network of crime laboratories that we know today.  Furthermore, many of the legal decisions issued by the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren during the 1950s and 1960s placed an increased emphasis on scientific evidence and a decreased emphasis on information gathered exclusively from police interrogations and suspect confessions.  Eventually, with the dawn of the 21st century and demand for services at all-time highs, forensic science funding became more widespread and therefore attracted the attention of many universities (and critics) that had little prior interest in the field.  

5.  The history of pattern identification and uniqueness is rooted solidly in academics.  The most famous pioneers of the pattern identification disciplines had strong academic backgrounds.  For example, Calvin Goddard, regarded as the father of firearm identification, was a medical doctor and professor at Northwestern University.  He was also the military editor for the Encyclopedia Britannica.   

Another pioneer in the forensic identification of firearms, Dr. J. Howard Matthews, worked for nearly forty years in the field. Matthews obtained his Master's and Ph.D. from Harvard and served as a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin for over thirty years. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and one of the founders of the professional chemical fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma. His classic three-volume treatise, Firearms Identification, was the largest single source of information on firearms identification ever assembled. 

Continued on the right
 

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