Commission Of Forensic Scientists No Longer Needed Now That Sessions Is In Charge
Jeff Sessions knows who did it, he doesn't need science to tell him.
Jeff Sessions (Generated by JG JPEG Library)
If “science” isn’t helping put people in jail, Jeff Sessions doesn’t want to know about it.
Jeff Sessions, U.S. attorney general and former Alabama prosecutor, announced Monday that he was disbanding the National Commission on Forensic Science. The 30-memeber panel of judges, lawyers, and scientists was commissioned by former President Barack Obama in 2013 to raise forensic science standards.
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So far the Commission has suggested that law enforcement stop utilizing evidence and testimony that has proven to be unreliable.
Of course, a higher standard for forensic science really only helps people who committed no crime. Sessions isn’t about that. If you look like a criminal, Sessions wants you in jail, somewhat regardless of your actual culpability. The Commission, for instance, wanted the F.B.I. to stop overstating the scientific reliability of crime scene hair tracking. Turns out that’s not as good as it looks on CSI. But you know how prosecutors think: they already know who did it, the burden is on the criminal to not get caught if he’s really innocent.
As a replacement, Sessions said he would establish an as yet undefined, “internal crime task force,” which will… well, I guess they’ll do whatever “science” Jeff Sessions thinks is acceptable. This is an administration that doesn’t take kindly to independent “eggheads” lecturing them about “facts,” so bringing the discussion in-house is in keeping with how things work now. Sessions said in a statement that he is worried about “overburdened” crime labs that can’t get timely information to prosecutors.
Yeah, he said “prosecutors.” From the Washington Post:
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“The availability of prompt and accurate forensic science analysis to our law enforcement officers and prosecutors is critical to integrity in law enforcement, reducing violent crime, and increasing public safety,” Sessions said in the statement.
The availability of ACCURATE forensic science to defendants is also fairly critical for our justice system to work properly.
Sessions’s rollback of the program was met with distress from various quarters. Judge Jed Rakoff serves on the Commission and had this to say:
“[I]t is unrealistic to expect that truly objective, scientifically sound standards for the use of forensic science … can be arrived at by entities centered solely within the Department of Justice.”
So far, Jeff Sessions’s definition of “justice” includes: banning people based on their country of origin, banning refugees from a country we bomb, refusing to require local law enforcement to operate within the bounds of the Constitution, forcing local police to do the federal government’s immigration work, and abandoning independent standards for scientific evidence. He hasn’t even gotten around to instituting racial profiling, and dismantling the civil rights division.
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It’s hard to overstate how dangerous Jeff Sessions is to equal justice in this country. And it’s only day 81.
Sessions orders Justice Dept. to end forensic science commission, suspend review policy [Washington Post]
White House science advisers urge Justice Dept., judges to raise forensic standards [Washington Post]
Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.
