Saks quoted in ‘The New York Times’

A Feb. 4 article in The New York Times about a highly anticipated national report that may recommend sweeping changes to the field of forensic science featured quotes from Professor Michael Saks, of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

In reporter Solomon Moore’s article, titled “Science Found Wanting in Nation’s Crime Labs,” Saks commented on how the report by a National Academy of Sciences’ committee likely will be used by police, attorneys and judges.

“This is not a judicial ruling; it is not a law,” said Saks, the Alan A. Matheson Professor of Law, and a Faculty Fellow in the College’s Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology. “But it will be used by others who will make law or will argue cases.”

Saks, along with law professors David Kaye and Jay Koehler, are co-chairing a national conference on April 3-4 at the College of Law, where an international body of experts from the fields of forensic science, criminalistics and scientific evidence will be assembled. The conference, “Forensic Science for the 21st Century: The National Academy of Sciences Report and Beyond,” is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology, The National Judicial College, and the ABA Sections of Science & Technology Law and Criminal Justice. For details, go to http://LST.law.asu.edu/.

The report is expected to be a “sweeping critique” of evidence used by police and prosecutors to convict defendants and likely will include controversial recommendations that would substantially change the field, according to Moore’s report.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law