Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack delivered the Ross Lecture in Litigation at Temple University Beasley School of Law on March 25.
Her presentation entitled “The 10 Year Anniversary of the NAS Report: Two Steps Forward of One Step Back” focused on the results of Strengthening Forensic Science: A Path Forward, a report from the National Academy of Sciences released in 2009. The Report recognized the value of forensic discipline evidence but concluded that, with the exception for DNA evidence, most disciplines lacked reliable scientific research to support their findings and the ability to conclude that a piece of evidence (such as a fingerprint) came from one person to the exclusion of all others.
In the decade since the Report’s release, Chief Justice McCormack has been integral to efforts to improve forensic discipline evidence – on the bench, as a member of the National Commission on Forensic Science, and as an author.
Full video of the Lecture is availble here.