Two More Problems and Too Little Money: Can Congress Truly Reform Forensic Science?

Abstract

The goal of this Note is to analyze how the Forensic Science Reform Act would have improved forensic science nationwide, and whether a top-down approach from Congress can appropriately deal with essentially localized situations. Part I examines the current state of federal regulation on this issue, the 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences "Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward", new legislation, and the reasons why misconduct has occurred and continues to occur in forensic laboratories. Part II then takes a critical look at the Act and examines where it may succeed in leading to true reform and where it does not, then lays out other regulatory reforms that may be better suited to ensuring that we can have confidence in the findings of our forensic laboratories. In the end, this Note concludes that the Act does make several important improvements over our current regulatory system, but there is still a long way to go before our forensic science system truly meets traditional scientific standards and ensures confidence in the results obtained by forensic professionals.