JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Prosecutors notched a victory Monday [8-7-17] over academics and defense attorneys in the long-running debate about what qualifies as sound crime-scene evidence versus ‘junk science’ used to wrongly convict defendants.
Guidelines for the use of forensic evidence in court, previously developed by a partnership between the Justice Department and a panel of scientists, will now be spearheaded by a former state prosecutor who reports to the department’s top leadership…
Prosecutors often say defense lawyers, in challenging scientific evidence, can persuade courts to question techniques that are entirely solid. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Monday that the new initiative to guide what forensic examiners and prosecutors can say about clues collected from crime scenes would counter ‘efforts in the courtroom and elsewhere to reject reliable and admissible forensic evidence.’
The move reflects Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ crackdown on violent crime and is another step toward dismantling former President Barack Obama’s legacy on criminal justice. Monday’s announcement has been expected since Mr. Sessions declined in April to renew the National Commission on Forensic Science, an advisory group of scientists and lawyers created in 2013 after a series of crime lab blunders by federal, state and local police.”
-Beth Reinhard, “Jeff Sessions Scuttles Forensics Partnership With Scientists,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 7, 2017 07:31pm