About This Project

Create a federally funded, law-enforcement-independent National Forensic Science Institute modeled on NIST — with no prosecutorial or investigative mandate — charged with: (1) conducting and funding foundational validity studies for all forensic disciplines used in criminal proceedings; (2) administering mandatory blind proficiency testing across all accredited forensic labs; (3) maintaining a public registry of validated vs. unvalidated methods with error rate data; and (4) establishing a post-conviction review right for defendants whose convictions relied on methods subsequently found to lack foundational validity. The NAS recommended this in 2009. PCAST recommended it in 2016. The cost of not doing it is paid in wrongful convictions and executed innocents.

Timeline