PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am really pleased that the 'Criminal Justice Journalist's organization has focussed on what they call: "A New Kind of Crisis’ – Tracking Federal Effects on the Nation’s Legal System. To figure out what harmful impact may have occurred, I linked onto the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy site (link below) where I got a sense of some of the areas which may be vulnerable. As Trump does not appear to be overly, about the consequences of his Draconian cuts to those who find themselves immersed in America; criminal justice system. this becomes an important area of concern. I. E. How much damage can Trump keep to America's criminal justice system, including the vital area of forensic science which is already under considerable pressure.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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PASSAGE ONE: "The Department of Justice maintains forensic laboratories at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Department, through the National Institute of Justice, is a sponsor of cutting-edge research. Its labs serve as a model for government forensic agencies at the federal, state and local levels. The Department strives to set the global standard for excellence in forensic science and to advance the practice and use of forensic science by the broader community. This website contains information of value to the forensic science community, as well as stakeholders engaged in the criminal justice system with interests in forensic science.
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PASSAGE TWO: Priorities: Facilitating coordination and collaboration on forensic science within the Department, across the federal government, and with state, local, and tribal entities… Increasing the capacity of forensic service providers so that evidence can be processed quickly and investigations can be concluded without delay...Improving the reliability of forensic analysis to enable examiners to report results with increased specificity and certainty.
- The Department of Justice rescinded approximately $5 million in funding to the Vera Institute of Justice, which was intended for programs to improve prison conditions and mental health crisis response, among other things.
- The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has frozen funding for programs that provide support to victims of domestic violence.
- The administration has eliminated 373 Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs grants to 221 organizations in 37 states across the country.-----------------------------------------
REPORT:' A New Kind of Crisis’ – Tracking Federal Effects on the Nation’s Legal System," published by Criminal Justice Journalists, on June 13, 2025. (Criminal Justice Journalists is the first national organization of journalists who cover crime, court, and prison beats. We have members from magazines, newspapers, television, and online sites, as well as book authors and freelancers. It was founded by Ted Gest, then of U.S. News and World Report, and David Krajicek, who covered crime at several newspapers, including the New York Daily News.)
GIST: "In a new report, “Tracking how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse,” the Prison Policy Initiative implements its “federal tracker page,” which keeps tabs on the overall effects of this presidency on this country’s criminal legal system. “Each action has been troubling, but the true nature of the crisis is only clear when these actions are viewed together in their entirety,” the Prison Policy report notes. “On this page, we are tracking the Trump administration’s efforts to make America’s criminal legal system harsher, less effective, and even more unfair.”
While the administration can’t set explicit policy that impacts state prisons, local jails, and non-federal law enforcement agencies, it is using its bully pulpit and control over federal spending to coerce state and local governments into expanding the size and brutality of their criminal legal systems.
The report notes Trump’s position on the federal death penalty and his push for executions along with expansions of policing powers and prisons, along with his administrations elimination of funding for the Prison Rape Elimination Act and its attack on protections for trans prisoners. The report also summarizes the administration’s efforts to deport immigrants without due process and its announced plans to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus for undocumented people, claiming that the United States was under an “invasion.”
Also, the report looks carefully at domestic issues, with careful outlines of funding cuts and changes in power dynamics and transparency. “For too long, prisons and jails have been politicians’ default approach to reducing crime and making communities safer, despite strong evidence that they do neither,” the Prison Policy report notes, listing ways that the administration is undermining efforts to keep people out of jail, including these actions:
- The Trump administration effectively shuttered the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the leading federal agency behind the Housing First model to address homelessness. This model provides people with housing and services on a no-strings-attached basis, serving as a first step in addressing homelessness. Housing First programs have proven successful at ending chronic homelessness, while also effectively reducing arrests and incarceration, particularly when tailored to justice-involved people.
- The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services cancelled or revoked $11.4 billion in grants designed to address substance use disorder and mental health issues, a move that will undoubtedly lead to increasing prison and jail populations.
- Elon Musk’s DOGE massively cut funding and staffing at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the administration has proposed merging the organization into a new agency in a way that medical providers warn could seriously jeopardize access to mental health and substance use treatment.
- The Department of Justice rescinded approximately $5 million in funding to the Vera Institute of Justice, which was intended for programs to improve prison conditions and mental health crisis response, among other things.
- The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has frozen funding for programs that provide support to victims of domestic violence.
- The administration has eliminated 373 Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs grants to 221 organizations in 37 states across the country
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
———————————————————————————————
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
