Commentary: Radley Balko looks with approval on the important new forensics bill passed by the California Senate in his informative column "The Watch" published by the Washingtom Post - and calls on other states to consider passing similar laws — or better yet, pass more robust safeguards to keep junk science out of criminal trials in the first place."

COMMENTARY: "California's Senate has approved an important new Forensics bill," by Radley Balko, published by the Washington Post on April 11, 2014.

GIST: "California’s state Senate has just approved an important new bill that would help people convicted of crimes due to bad science win new trials. Let’s hope it gets passed into law. One of the most important things we’ve learned from DNA testing is that we have badly misjudged the reliability of a number of methods of forensic analysis. Most fields of forensics were developed by police investigators, not scientists, and aren’t subject to the rigorous standards of the scientific method, such as blind testing and peer review. Yet these methods are still presented to juries as “science.”.........Under the proposed law, if an expert later repudiates his testimony or if an expert’s testimony is later found to be unsupported by science, the convicted have grounds for a new trial. There are some nagging questions, such as what sort of consensus would be needed in the scientific community for the law to apply.........Still, it’s a sensible bill that will at least address the most egregious cases. Other states should consider passing similar laws — or better yet, pass more robust safeguards to keep junk science out of criminal trials in the first place."

The entire commentary can be found at:
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/04/11/californias-senate-has-approved-an-important-new-forensics-bill/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
 
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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;