Trumps Justice Department wont use outside experts to improve forensics [View all]

[n2doc]

The Trump Justice Department will no longer work with a panel of independent scientists, judges, and attorneys to improve the country’s forensic-science practices, attorney general Jeff Sessions said Monday (April 10).

It’s the latest step of away from an Obama administration legacy in criminal justice reform.

Sessions said in a memo that he will not renew the term for the National Commission on Forensic Science, a body formed under Obama in 2013, the Washington Post reports. The move comes after the Justice Department announced it would reconsider its consent-decree agreements with police departments across the country, a reform initiative spearheaded by the Obama administration, and after a decision to rescind a directive to phase out the use of private prisons for federal prisoners.

The attorney general acted shortly after a group of the nation’s top criminologists wrote an open letter asking him to prioritize science in criminal-justice policies, and to draw on the knowledge of experts. Another letter from six researchers on April 6 urged the department to renew the commission’s two-year term.

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https://qz.com/954391/the-sessions-justice-department-is-nixing-the-national-commission-on-forensic-science/