The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced appointments to a newly created National Commission on Forensic Science.
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget Mary McCormack is one of those named.
Members of the commission will work to improve the practice of forensic science by developing guidance concerning the intersections between forensic science and the criminal justice system. The commission will de-
The commission is co-chaired by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick D. Gallagher. Nelson Santos, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Forensic Sciences at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and John M. Butler, special assistant to the NIST director for forensic science, serve as vice-chairs.
“I appreciate the commitment each of the commissioners has made and look forward to working with them to strengthen the validity and reliability of the forensic sciences and enhance quality assurance and quality control,” said Deputy Attorney General Cole. “Scientifically valid and accurate forensic analysis supports all aspects of our justice system.”
The commission includes federal, state and local forensic science service providers; research scientists and academics; law enforcement officials; prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges; and other stakeholders from across the country. This breadth of experience and expertise reflects the many different entities that contribute to forensic science practice in the U.S. and will ensure these broad perspectives are represented on the commission and in its work.
“This new commission represents an extremely broad range of expertise and skills,” said Under Secretary Gallagher. “It will help ensure that forensic science is supported by the strongest possible science-based evidence gathering, analysis and measurement.
“This latest and most impressive collaboration between the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will help ensure that the forensic sciences are supported by the most rigorous standards available—a foundational requirement in a nation built on the credo of ‘justice for all,’” said John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The commissioners were chosen from a pool of more than 300 candidates, and include professors (some at law schools); attorneys on both the prosecution and defense sides; a chief of detectives; an Innocence Project director; a forensic scientist from the FBI; a medical geneticist, a coroner; crime laboratory and forensic science department directors; forensic science experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Army; the policy director of a crime victim organization; consultants; and the Hon. Bridget Mary McCormack in addition to trial court judges.
McCormack was a professor at University of Michigan before her 2012 election to the Michigan Supreme Court, and founder of U of M’s Innocence Project.
Ex-Officio members include: David Honey, Ph.D., Asst. Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Science and Technology; Marilyn Huestis, Ph.D., Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, National Institutes of Health; Gerald LaPorte, of the National Institute of Justice; Patricia Manzolillo of the Forensic Laboratory Services, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Frances Schrotter, American National Standards Institute; Kathryn Turman, Assistant Director, Office for Victim Assistance, FBI; and others.
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