[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 168 (Friday, December 17, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S10508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            FORENSICS REFORM

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, for nearly 2 years, the Senate Judiciary 
Committee has been examining serious issues in forensic science that go 
to the heart of our criminal justice system. The committee has studied 
the problem exhaustively, and we reached out to a wide array of experts 
and stakeholders. While the days of the 111th Congress are drawing to a 
close, it is my intention to introduce legislation early next year that 
represents the culmination of this process. That legislation will 
strengthen our confidence in the criminal justice system and the 
evidence it relies upon by ensuring that forensic evidence and 
testimony is accurate, credible, and scientifically grounded.
  In February of 2009, the National Academy of Science, NAS, published 
a report asserting that the field of forensic science has significant 
problems that must be urgently addressed. The report suggested that 
basic research establishing the scientific validity of many forensic 
science disciplines has never been done in a comprehensive way. It also 
suggested that the forensic sciences lack uniform and unassailable 
standards governing the accreditation of laboratories, the 
certification of forensic practitioners, and the testing and analysis 
of evidence. Indeed, I was disturbed to learn about still more cases in 
which innocent people may have been convicted, perhaps even executed, 
in part due to faulty forensic evidence.
  Since then, the Judiciary Committee has held a pair of hearing on the 
issue. Committee members, as well as staff, have spent countless hours 
talking to prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officers, 
judges, forensic practitioners, scientists, academic experts, and many, 
many others to learn as much as we can about what is happening now and 
what needs to be done. Through the course of this inquiry, we discussed 
some of the current problems in forensic science that we need to 
address. But it also became abundantly clear that the men and women who 
test and analyze forensic evidence do great work that is vital to our 
criminal justice system. Accordingly, as a former prosecutor, I am 
committed to strengthening the field of forensics, and the justice 
system's confidence in it, so that their hard work can be consistently 
relied upon, as it should be.
  While there were varying responses to the findings of the NAS report, 
one thing was clear: there needed to be a searching review of the state 
of forensic science work in this country. And it also became clear 
through this process that there is widespread consensus about the need 
for change and the kind of change that is needed. Almost everyone I 
heard from recognized the need for strong and unassailable research to 
test and establish the validity of the forensic disciplines, as well as 
the need for consistent and rigorous accreditation and certification 
standards in the field.
  Prosecutors and law enforcement officers want evidence that can be 
relied upon as definitively as possible to determine guilt and prove it 
in a court of law. Defense attorneys want strong evidence that can as 
definitively as possible exclude innocent people. Forensic 
practitioners want their work to have as much certainty as possible and 
to be given deserved deference. All scientists and all attorneys who 
care about these issues want the science that is admitted as evidence 
in the courtroom to match the science that is proven through rigorous 
testing and research in the laboratory.
  Everyone who cares about forensics also recognizes that there is a 
dire need for well managed and appropriately directed funding for 
research, development, training, and technical assistance. It is a good 
investment, as it will lead to fewer trials and appeals and reduce 
crime by ensuring that those who commit serious offenses are promptly 
captured and convicted.
  The legislation I intend to introduce next year will address these 
widely recognized needs. Among other things, it will require that all 
forensic science laboratories that receive federal funding or federal 
business be accredited according to rigorous and uniform standards. It 
will require that all relevant personnel who perform forensic work for 
any laboratory or agency that gets federal money become certified in 
their fields, which will mean meeting standards in proficiency, 
education, and training.
  I expect that the proposal will set up a rigorous process to 
determine the most serious needs for peer-reviewed research in the 
forensic science disciplines and will set up grant programs to fund 
that research. The bill will also provide for this research to lead to 
appropriate standards and best practices in each discipline. It will 
also fund research into new technologies and techniques that will allow 
forensic testing to be done more quickly, more efficiently, and more 
accurately. I believe these are proposals that will be widely supported 
by those on all sides of this issue.
  The bill that I will introduce will seek to balance carefully a 
number of competing considerations that are so important to getting a 
review of forensic science right. It will capitalize on existing 
expertise and structures, rather than calling for the creation of a 
costly new agency. And ultimately, improved forensic science will save 
money, reduce the number of costly appeals, shorten investigations and 
trials, and help to eliminate wrongful imprisonments.
  I understand that sweeping forensic reform and criminal justice 
reform legislation not only should, but must, be bipartisan. There is 
no reason for a partisan divide on this issue; fixing this problem does 
not advance prosecutors or defendants, liberals or conservatives, but 
justice. I have worked closely with interested Republican Senators on 
this vital issue. I hope that many Republican Senators will join me in 
introducing important forensics reform legislation at the beginning of 
the next Congress, and I will continue to work diligently with Senators 
on both sides of the aisle to ensure that this becomes the consensus 
bipartisan legislation that it ought to be.
  I want to thank the forensic science practitioners, experts, 
advocates, law enforcement personnel, judges, and so many others whose 
input forms the basis for the legislation I will propose. Their passion 
for this issue and for getting it right gives me confidence that we 
will work together successfully to make much needed progress.
  I hope all Senators will join me next year in advancing important 
legislation to restore confidence to the forensic sciences and the 
criminal justice system.

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