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Forensic "Science" is Anything But

posted by LaminatorX on Friday June 13 2014, @03:09PM   
from the Injustice-for-All dept.

Anonymous Coward writes:

In 2009, a National Academy of Sciences committee embarked on a long-overdue quest to study typical forensics analyses with an appropriate level of scientific scrutiny--and the results were deeply chilling. Aside from DNA analysis, not a single forensic practice held up to rigorous inspection.

Far from an infallible science, forensics is a decades-long experiment in which undertrained lab workers jettison the scientific method in favor of speedy results that fit prosecutors' hunches. No one knows exactly how many people have been wrongly imprisoned--or executed--due to flawed forensics. But the number, most experts agree, is horrifyingly high. A complete overhaul of our evidence analysis is desperately needed.

• Re:Simple but difficult solutionRe:Simple but difficult solution (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday June 13 2014, @10:02PM

  by c0lo (156) on Friday June 13 2014, @10:02PM (#55134) Journal

  There is reason to believe that in 2114, the courts will be much fairer than they are today, and there is enough of a gap between where we are and where we want to be that there's cause to get angry and agitate for change.

  Without asking for a change, it won't happen.
  Fingerprints and blood type testing are simple enough for anyone to understand and can be performed in a "non wizard mode" - no longer so with the current day techniques.

  --
  https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

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• Re:Simple but difficult solution(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 14 2014, @02:20AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 14 2014, @02:20AM (#55172)

  I think you'd be surprised to find out that fingerprints aren't so simple. Especially partials.

  Parent