Forensic science expert John Collins has published a commentary at Science 2.0 in which he cites the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson as "kick-starting" legal and political activism against forensic science in the United States.
In Keeping the Gate - A Science & Justice Blog, Collins, president and founder of the Forensic Foundations Group, said that the activism has distorted perceptions about science in the courtroom.
According to Collins, some federal initiatives to reform forensic science "languish in arm-chair pondering of legal technicalities and feigned outrage over exaggerated judicial grievances." He also criticized activists for ignoring research showing that forensic science is not a significant problem in America as they make it out to be.
Collins wrote that forensic science in the United States is "remarkably accurate despite its challenges," which he says are the result of laboratories that are "underfunded, inadequately supported, and misunderstood by attorneys, judges, and elected officials."
With just over 200 days to go until the 20th anniversary of O.J. Simpson's acquittal, Collins says he wants to draw attention to themes emerging from Washington, D.C. and their connections to the Simpson trial.
"The general public simply don't know how relevant some of the players in Simpson's trial are to what is going on at our nation's capital," says Collins. "Some of the nonsense that people witnessed back then is taking place right now, and it's concerning."
Collins' article titled "The Law has Failed, Not Forensic Science" can be accessed here