National Institute of Forensic Science

NEW YORK - A new report from the National Academy of Sciences finds that so-called forensic science needs a big fat overhaul. According to some of the country's top doctors, engineers and researchers, the evidence we've used to convict the 1.6 million Americans currently in prison is unreliable, at best.

Crime lab

•Fingerprint analysis •shoeprint evidence •blood spatter •toxicology •drug testing •handwriting samples •tool marks •bite marks •hair sampling

And that's the short list. The full list is too long for this post. Suffice it to say, the techniques employed to catch and convict criminals cannot be trusted.

Forget what you've seen on CSI; that's fiction. Here are the facts: What we call forensic "science" is not science. It was not developed by scientists in lab coats with test tubes and lots of letters after their names. The practice of forensics developed in the context of law enforcement. There is an inherent bias. And it has never been subject to the kind of peer review and scientific rigor to which real scientists must adhere.

Of course there are lots of talented and dedicated people in the forensic science community, but they are under funded and under pressure to convict. And inconsistent practices in federal, state, and local agencies plague the profession as a whole. The quality of forensic science varies too greatly for a system that is ultimately about life, liberty and sometimes even death.

What we need is a new and independent entity, with no ties to the past dysfunctions of the forensic science community, and with the authority and resources to implement a fresh agenda designed to prevent the miscarriage of justice. A National Institute of Forensic Science. Justice requires nothing less.

-Jami Floyd, In Session anchor