Poorly-established forensic science methods have sent the innocent to prison or even their deaths, and let the guilty walk free. But the line between junk science and credible techniques is finer than you might imagine.
article that helped kickstart the anti-vaccination movement — forensic sciences have a unique sort of reach. Criminal justice proceedings are some of the most consequential actions that states can take against individuals, and forensic science can make or break cases. Bad science can send innocent people to jail for life, or even to their death, while letting dangerous offenders walk free, every single day.It was only recently that the high-stakes nature of forensics spurred the U.S.
One highlight appears early in the report, where the committee notes the issues with individualization, like being able to show that a fingerprint, for example, belongs to a particular individual with a degree of certainty. “With the exception of nuclear DNA analysis, however, no forensic method has been rigorously shown to have the capacity to consistently, and with a high degree of certainty, demonstrate a connection between evidence and a specific individual or source,” the authors write.
The researchers go on to say that, for many forensics, there are significant underlying issues. “The simple reality is that the interpretation of forensic evidence is not always based on scientific studies to determine its validity. This is a serious problem." And while research has been conducted in certain disciplines, the authors continue, there is a striking lack of peer-reviewed, published studies that show the scientific validity behind many forensic techniques.
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