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Editor's Introduction
On May 6, 2010, the Honorable Harry T. Edwards delivered a presentation to the Conference on The Role of the Court in an Age of Developing Science & Technology. Sponsored by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the conference was held in Washington, D.C. on May 6-7, 2010. Jurimetrics is pleased to present the text of Judge Edwards's lecture.
CITATION: Harry T. Edwards, The National Academy of Sciences Report on Forensic Sciences: What it Means for the Bench and Bar, 51 Jurimetrics J. 1-15 (2010).
On February 18, 2009, after more than two years of work, the Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Science Community at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a report entitled, "Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward."1 The committee was composed of a diverse and accomplished group of professionals. Seven of the 17 committee members are prominent professionals in the forensic science community, with extensive experience in forensic analysis and practice; 11 members of the committee are trained scientists (with expertise in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, biostatistics, statistics, and medicine); 10 members of the committee have Ph.D.'s, 2 have M.D.'s, 5 have J.D.'s, and one has an M.S. in chemistry.
Because of our extensive research and countless interviews, the committee's project involved an extraordinary amount of time. In addition, there were many hours of committee meetings, which involved deliberations between forensic analysts and practitioners, experts in the physical and life sciences, a former federal prosecutor, a defense attorney, a crime lab director, a medical examiner, an engineer, statisticians, educators, and a judge. Our interactions were challenging and fruitful; in the end, despite our differing professional perspectives, the committee was unanimous in its findings and recommendations.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can now say that the substance of the committee's report was not difficult to write. The problems that plague the forensic science community have been well understood for quite some time by thoughtful and skilled forensic professionals, and their views and concerns were well known to us. For example, in 2003, when he was President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), Kenneth Melson, a former prosecutor and now Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms...