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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday April 16 2017, @12:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the who-really-needs-independent-experts-anyway? dept.

Common Dreams reports

The Trump administration's anti-science bent has reached the Department of Justice (DOJ), with Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying [April 10] that the department is ending the National Commission on Forensic Science.

The 30-member panel was described by ThinkProgress as "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".

In its place, a senior forensic advisor will be appointed "to interface with forensic science stakeholders and advise department leadership", Sessions' statement said.

[...] "The reliance of law enforcement on questionable science and the overstatement of the reliability of that science has been a leading cause of the wrongful conviction of innocent people", said National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) president Barry Pollack on Monday. "The reason the National Commission on Forensic Science has been so important is that it includes leading independent scientists, allowing an unbiased expert evaluation of which techniques are scientifically valid and which are not. NACDL is terribly disappointed that even while acknowledging the crucial role played by the National Commission on Forensic Science, the Attorney General has chosen to disband it."

Additional Coverage:

Previous: Forensic Hair Matches: More Junk Science from the FBI


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @04:31AM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @04:31AM (#494672)

    First, its very important to recognize that all funding for gov't operations originates in the House of Representatives.

    Next, there will be a "midterm" election in 2018.
    The term of a congressman is 2 years, so every seat in the House will be up for grabs then.
    Get involved in the Primary Election and in the General Election and especially in the campaign of the candidate you like.
    Be the change.

    Without funding, the Executive Branch has a limited ability to implement its radical agenda.
    ...and just for fun I'll mention that Trump's executive orders keep getting shot down by courts.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by julian on Sunday April 16 2017, @05:00AM (6 children)

    by julian (6003) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 16 2017, @05:00AM (#494680)

    I'm worried because gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics work. They are effective if used well. They're also utterly immoral and reprehensible. Both parties are not equal in their willingness to employ these tactics to win. The vast majority of this activity is perpetrated by Republicans.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @06:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @06:57AM (#494711)

      Both parties are not equal in their willingness to employ these tactics

      Everything that you said is true.
      In addition, GOPers tend to take midterms more seriously than other folks.
      That complacency has to be reversed.

      ...which is why it's critical that EVERY Progressive be aware of who the good guys are that are running and that EVERY Progressive is registered and that they ALL vote.

      It's important that folks discover this stuff via phone, door-to-door volunteers, or on the sidewalk of the local shopping place and that they are told that their participation is absolutely necessary.

      Some folks have difficulty getting to the polls.
      That's another way to make a difference.

      Find a way to get involved.
      Every little bit counts.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 16 2017, @09:54AM (3 children)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday April 16 2017, @09:54AM (#494748) Homepage

      Yeah, speaking of voter suppression, what about all those nonviolent Trump supporters who are getting gang-jumped and beaten and sliced-up by leftist thugs?

      What I assume you're bitching about is requiring citizenship and ID to vote. Well, no shit. The reason why Trump's deportations are scaring the shit of the left is because he's putting a stop to their scheme of destroying our culture and safety by importing hordes of new and uncivilized Democratic welfare-voters.

      Abiding by the rule of law? Huh, imagine that!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @11:08AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @11:08AM (#494769)

        Now tell us the one about The Three Bears.

        If the event to which you are referring is anything like the one in Huntington Beach late last month, the "journalists" got it completely wrong on the 1st try.

        What happened in OC was that Trump-fan skinheads jumped some reporters/photographers who were there trying to do their jobs.
        The aggressors were wearing Neo-Nazi insignia and had brought knives and brass knuckles.

        An organizer of the Trump event got squirted with pepper spray by accident when she was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
        Someone trying to defend himself from multiple attackers had his aim jostled.

        The story without the alt-truth:
        OC Weekly Journalists Say Trump Supporters Attacked Them at Huntington Beach Rally [truthdig.com]

        .
        requiring citizenship and ID to vote

        There's a story in the queue right now about how in Kansas their resident dumbass has been looking for 2 years, wasting how much money is anybody's guess.
        He has found a grand total of 8 people, with irregularities.
        Most appear to be understandable screwups.
        Kansas Secretary of State Finally Convicts an Immigrant of a Voting Irregularity [soylentnews.org]

        If julian wasn't referring to outright fraud by state voting officials, I'll link to that.
        This guy is an investigative reporter who has been tracking voter purging for years.
        Greg Palast [google.com]
        He has also made a movie about the fraud: "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy"

        -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 2) by julian on Sunday April 16 2017, @06:20PM (1 child)

        by julian (6003) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 16 2017, @06:20PM (#494885)

        What a lovely pastiche of right-wing fever dream hallucinations; a pathetic litany of tired, content-free, non-arguments. Get some new material before you take your act on the road again.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @04:23PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @04:23PM (#494851)

      That explains why Republicans do better at elections where gerrymandering doesn't exist, such as state governors.

      What was that about reality having a Liberal agenda?