The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: The NAS Report on Strengthening Forensic Science in America

Abstract

This paper, presented at 5th Triennial Conference of the European Academy of Forensic Science in September 2009, (1) describes the history of the U.S. National Academies' reports on forensic science issues; (2) summarizes key parts of the 2009 NRC report on strengthening forensic science in America; and (3) considers the implications of this latest report for governments, for forensic scientists, and for courts and lawyers in America. I express both pessimism (about the most dramatic proposals for reform) and optimism (about smaller but useful enhancements to the current system).

Keywords: forensic science, NAS, NRC, scientific evidence