National Commission On Forensic Science Is Launched

The Obama Administration has established a National Commission on Forensic Science to be overseen by the Department of Justice and National Institute of Standards & Technology. The 30-member commission will develop policy recommendations to strengthen forensic science. The commission is the first federal response to a 2009 National Research Council report that said most forensic science lacks underlying research. DOJ will coordinate implementation of the commission’s suggestions, and NIST will take over responsibility for some 20 panels that will make research and policy recommendations to the commission. The inspiration for the commission came from a National Science & Technology Council subcommittee composed of federal agencies and state and local forensics practitioners. The White House is still reviewing the subcommittee’s broader recommendations.