STORY: "Sessions just took the Trump administration’s war on science to the next level: He won’t renew the National Commission on Forensic Science," by reporter Kira Lerner, published by ThinkProgress on April 10, 2017. (Kira Lerner is a political reporter at ThinkProgress);
GIST: "Attorney
General Jeff Sessions said Monday the Justice Department will no longer
partner with an independent group of experts that has been working to
improve the accuracy of forensic science. mIn a public statement first reported
by the Washington Post, Sessions announced he would not renew the
National Commission on Forensic Science, a group of scientists, judges,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other experts tasked by the Obama
administration in 2013 with raising standards for the use of forensic
evidence in criminal proceedings. The
commission, which has been critical in recommending forensic standards,
guidance, and policies to the DOJ, is set to expire on April 23.
Sessions said Monday that the roles will instead shift internally to a
still-unnamed senior forensic adviser and an internal department crime
task force.........Last
year, the Obama White House and DOJ took efforts to strengthen forensic
science, given the rates at which experts overstate and mislead the
efficacy of analyzing forensic evidence such bite marks, shoe prints,
hair samples, and firearms during criminal trials. In September, a White House panel recommended
that courts question the admissibility of four different techniques
that are often used to secure convictions. While examiners often rely on
those techniques and claim that they can name a source with absolute
certainty, there is only statistical research to back up DNA analysis,
scientists found. At the time, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other
top prosecutors across the country said they would continue to rely on
the methods anyway. There have been at least 2,000
exonerations in the United States since 1989 and many of the
convictions were secured through the use of faulty forensics, according
to the National Registry of Exonerations. The Innocence Project has noted that bite-mark analysis, one of the methods studied by the commission, has led to several false convictions.
According
to the Washington Post, the full National Commission on Forensic
Science voted in January against recommending its renewal, but a number
of members last week were already warning of the disastrous consequences
of eliminating their independent group. U.S. District Judge Jed S.
Rakoff of New York, who serves on the commission, told the Post that “it
is unrealistic to expect that truly objective, scientifically sound
standards for the use of forensic science… can be arrived at by entities
centered solely within the Department of Justice.” And
six leading scientists wrote in a letter Thursday that the commission
should be renewed for another two-year term because “for too long,
decisions regarding forensic science have been made without the input of
the research science. This isn’t the only area in which the Trump administration is making decisions about science without consulting scientists. A Washington Post analysis
from last month found that the president had filled just one of 46 key
science and technology positions in his administration. At the same
time, he has proposed massive cuts to agencies focused on science,
including the Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department, NASA
and National Institutes of Health. His pick to lead the EPA, Scott
Pruitt, is a fervent denier of climate change."
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
