5 ms·

Are you against forensic science or do you doubt the validity of it?

julienreszka 5y ago
There is plenty of evidence that DNA tests are unreliable. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/forensics-gone-wrong-when-dna-snares-innocent https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/forensics-gone-wrong...
zzt123 5y ago
Much like cryptography, the science of DNA is good, but the roll-your-own DNA forensics implementations have had issues. https://www.propublica.org/article/thousands-of-criminal-cases-in-new-york-relied-on-disputed-dna-testing-techniques https://www.propublica.org/article/thousands-of-criminal-cas... https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/a-reasonable-doubt/480747/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/a-reaso... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/opinion/the-dangers-of-dna-testing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/opinion/the-dangers-of-dn... A quote from The NY Times article: “The first two suspects’ DNA was part of the mixture, and most labs correctly matched their DNA to the evidence. However, 74 labs wrongly said the sample included DNA evidence from the third suspect, an “innocent person” who should have been cleared of the hypothetical felony.” There were 108 labs tested. 74 of 108 fingered an innocent person. As long as DNA forensics processes are open source, we should be good, because the questionable component is the implementation, not the base science. But, closed source DNA forensics is dangerous, I think.
jhomedall 5y ago
A lot of forensic science, such as hair analysis, bullet casing analysis, and bite mark analysis, is either partially or entirely bunk. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-matches-in-nearly-all-criminal-trials-for-decades/2015/04/18/39c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-fo... - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/reversing-legacy-junk-science-courtroom https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/reversing-legacy-jun... - http://www.bostonreview.net/books-ideas/nathan-robinson-forensic-pseudoscience-criminal-justice http://www.bostonreview.net/books-ideas/nathan-robinson-fore...

There is plenty of evidence that DNA tests are unreliable. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/forensics-gone-wrong-when-dna-snares-innocent https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/forensics-gone-wrong...

zzt123 5y ago

Much like cryptography, the science of DNA is good, but the roll-your-own DNA forensics implementations have had issues. https://www.propublica.org/article/thousands-of-criminal-cases-in-new-york-relied-on-disputed-dna-testing-techniques https://www.propublica.org/article/thousands-of-criminal-cas... https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/a-reasonable-doubt/480747/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/a-reaso... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/opinion/the-dangers-of-dna-testing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/opinion/the-dangers-of-dn... A quote from The NY Times article: “The first two suspects’ DNA was part of the mixture, and most labs correctly matched their DNA to the evidence. However, 74 labs wrongly said the sample included DNA evidence from the third suspect, an “innocent person” who should have been cleared of the hypothetical felony.” There were 108 labs tested. 74 of 108 fingered an innocent person. As long as DNA forensics processes are open source, we should be good, because the questionable component is the implementation, not the base science. But, closed source DNA forensics is dangerous, I think.

jhomedall 5y ago

A lot of forensic science, such as hair analysis, bullet casing analysis, and bite mark analysis, is either partially or entirely bunk. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-matches-in-nearly-all-criminal-trials-for-decades/2015/04/18/39c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-fo... - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/reversing-legacy-junk-science-courtroom https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/reversing-legacy-jun... - http://www.bostonreview.net/books-ideas/nathan-robinson-forensic-pseudoscience-criminal-justice http://www.bostonreview.net/books-ideas/nathan-robinson-fore...