Forensic Evidence

Forensic Evidence

Description

The field of forensic science has come under increasing scrutiny in the past decades. DNA-exoneration cases revealed the pervasive problem of misuse of forensic evidence, blue-ribbon panels of experts have critiqued common methods of forensic science as fundamentally unsound, and a series of laboratory scandals have called into question the integrity of the institutions and actors who deliver forensic findings. Although this attention reveals a system of scientific evidence that is badly broken, the body of scholarly and governmental criticism of the field, along with innovations and expertise at the state and national level, offer clear pathways to reform. This chapter aims to distill that wide body of work into a broad diagnosis of the problems presented in the current state of forensic science, and synthesize some of the best and most promising proposals for reform.

Source Publication

Reforming Criminal Justice

Source Editors/Authors

Erik Luna

Publication Date

2017

Volume Number

3: Pretrial and Trial Processes

Forensic Evidence

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