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Article: Fingerprints: not a gold standard: a few judges are showing signs of skepticism, and it's about time.
- Article from:
- Issues in Science and Technology
- Article date:
- September 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 National Academy of Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In January 2002, Judge Louis Pollack made headlines with a surprising ruling on the admissibility of fingerprints. In United States v. Llera Plaza, the distinguished judge and former academic issued a lengthy opinion that concluded, essentially, that fingerprint identification was not a legitimate form of scientific evidence. Fingerprints not scientific? The conclusions of fingerprint examiners not admissible in court? It was a shocking thought. After all, fingerprints have been used as evidence in the U.S. courtroom for nearly 100 years. They have long been considered the gold standard of forensic science and are widely thought to be an especially powerful and ...