(September 12): "The Department of Justice announced new steps today as part of its
ongoing commitment to strengthening and advancing forensic science. The
department will implement a number of steps that will promote
professional responsibility among forensics practitioners, institute
best practices and advance the relationship between the academic
research of forensic science and implementation in the field. “Today’s announcement marks yet another step forward in the
department’s efforts to strengthen the practice of forensic science in
our nation’s laboratories and courtrooms,” said Deputy Attorney General
Sally Q. Yates. “We are continually looking at ways to ensure that
forensic evidence is collected, analyzed and presented in a responsible
and scientifically rigorous manner.” The new policies include adopting a new code of professional
responsibility that builds upon existing policies and accreditation
requirements for departmental forensic examiners and laboratories. The
department believes the code will improve education and guidance on
professional responsibility while establishing a process for identifying
and addressing violations of professional conduct. Department forensic laboratories will also review their policies and
procedures to ensure that forensic examiners are not using the
expressions “reasonable scientific certainty” or “reasonable (forensic
discipline) certainty” in their reports or testimony. Department
prosecutors will also abstain from using these expressions when
presenting forensic reports or questioning forensic experts in court
unless required by a judge or applicable law. This decision complements
the department’s efforts, announced earlier this year, to provide
better guidance to forensic examiners and federal prosecutors on how to
properly characterize the strength of forensic evidence in the
courtroom. The department also announced policies to implement greater
transparency and access to forensic laboratory quality assurance
documents and a plan to explore a grant funding of multiyear
post-doctoral fellowships at federal, state and local forensic science
service providers and forensic medicine service providers. The new policies arose out of recommendations made by the National
Commission of Forensic Science, which was established to advance the
field of forensic science and make suggestions to the Attorney General
on how to ensure that reliable and scientifically valid evidence is used
when solving crimes. The Attorney General’s decision to implement
several of the commission’s recommendations was announced at a meeting
of the commission today. A memo was also sent to all department
component heads directing the implementation of the recommendations. Additional information on the department’s ongoing work to strengthen
forensic science can be found at www.justice.gov/forensics."
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Forensic Science reform; USA; (2): Bulletin: Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates Attorney General release - (Justice department announces new steps said to advance and strengthen forensic science) - and link to download the complete memo).
