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STORY: "Why won't prosecutors make amends for flawed investigations?, by Andrew Cohen, published in the Atlantic on April 18, 2012. ( Andrew Cohen is a contributing editor at The Atlantic and legal analyst for 60 Minutes. He is also chief analyst and legal editor for CBS Radio News.)
GIST: "The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold hearings on this -- now, not later this year -- with a focus upon getting direct answers to the most important questions here: how many tainted cases remain and what more must federal and state prosecutors do to finally put things right? Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) has long been an outspoken advocate for the concept of " justice for all." Here's an opportunity for him to show how serious he is about changing government policies that have for decades now resulted in injustice to many. In every single flawed case, or potentially flawed case, prosecutors should be required to notify defendants and defense attorneys of the specific problem with the forensic evidence at issue in the case. Every trial judge should be notified as well to better ensure that the post-conviction rights of defendants are satisfied. That this should have been done 15 years ago, or 10 years ago, or five years ago, makes it no less worthy of being done now. This is a terrible scandal and I hope that The Post's work in reminding us of it finally generates the relief those wrongfully convicted people deserve."
THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. 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.
