Federal Judge, in Protest, Resigns from Forensic Science Commission

Over the last several decades, there have been countless instances of junk science, or corrupt forensic laboratory practices, leading to wrongful criminal convictions. Now, the sole federal judge appointed by President Obama to a Commission created to improve forensic science in the courtroom, has resigned in protest because the United States Department of Justice is not allowing the Commission to do its job.

The Judge's Letter of Protest

The Judge wrote this letter to the Commission, and to the public, explaining that he resigned from the Commission because the Department of Justice made the unilateral decision that one of the most critical issues - the secrecy that the government applies to the practices of its own forensic laboratories and scientists - could not be discussed by the Commission. The Judge described this, bluntly, as a "determination by the Department of Justice to place strategic advantage over a search for the truth." You can read his letter here.