Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bulletin: Innocence Project welcomes bills filed today mandating scientific standards for forensic science.



STORY: "Innocence Project praises bills filed in both Houses of Congress today mandating scientific standards for forensic sciences: Senate Commerce Committee and House Science Committee bills establish scientific research and oversight for forensic sciences," published by the Innocence Project on July 12, 2012;

GIST: "The bills are designed to address the wide ranging deficiencies in scientific validation and the lack of oversight of forensic sciences that were highlighted in a 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences.........The following can be attributed to Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. "Today, leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Science Committee took a giant step forward in ensuring that forensic science is based on strong scientific research and governed by consistent and meaningful standards. For far too long, the forensic science disciplines have suffered from the lack of these components, resulting in practices that hamper law enforcement's ability to solve crimes and contribute to wrongful convictions. The bills that were filed today are an important component of ensuring that forensic sciences are based on solid, reliable research. We urge Congress to act quickly to enact this legislation and to develop and support mechanisms for the practical implementation of the resulting research and standards;

I am monitoring these issues. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;