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Narrowing the Gap Between Science and Justice: CSAFE Researchers Contribute to NBC News Article

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NBC news recently shed light on the slow progress of improving the scientific foundations of many forensic science techniques such as bite-mark comparisons and blood-spatter analysis. CSAFE researchers provided expert commentary to the article “We are going backward: How the Justice System Ignores Science in the Pursuit of Convictions.” The piece takes a closer look at specific cases that call into question the reliability of forensic techniques, and resulting wrongful convictions. Moving forward, researchers, forensic examiners and the judicial system need to work together to narrow the gap between science and justice.

From the article:

CSAFE Co-Director, Alicia Carriquiry: “If we don’t have technologies that are objective, repeatable and reliable, then we have no idea how many times we’re making the wrong decision. We don’t even have a way to estimate how many times we’re making the wrong decisions.”

CSAFE Co-Director Karen Kafadar: “But when evidence is presented with shockingly little probability, I think it would be wise for people to be very cautious,” Kafadar said.

CSAFE researcher Brandon Garret: “People continue to be exonerated, and we still see the courts let it in.”

How is CSAFE addressing the concerns raised in this article? Visit our Research Page to find out.

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