POST: "A massive mess of forensics" by Radley Balko, published by the Huffington Post on December 26, 2012.
GIST: " It's a scandal that strikes at the very heart of our democratic system of government, and it isn't getting nearly the attention it deserves. We're talking about one of the most basic functions of government -- the administration of justice. And we're talking about nationwide systemic failures in the way the government has been presenting scientific evidence in the courtroom going back 40 years, over tens of thousands of cases, all with the approval of the courts in which that evidence was presented.Worse yet, the Justice Department had to be dragged kicking and screaming into conducting even the federal review.........There have been enough scandals now that we need to start talking about these issues as systemic failures, and no longer as individual incidents to be addressed and fixed on a case-by-case basis. And it's time to start considering more fundamental changes to how we test, analyze, and use forensic evidence in the courtroom, changes that may seem radical, but that would restructure the incentives of the key players here so that we reward people for moving cases toward just outcomes, not outcomes that serve political interests The 2009 National Academy of Sciences report on forensics started that process. But it seems to have stalled. Maybe these latest revelations about the FBI lab will get the discussion going again."
The entire post can be found at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/radley-balko/a-massive-mess-of-forensi_b_2365141.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
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.