As I’ve reported here in the past, even the reliability of such forensic mainstays as fingerprint analysis has come under attack, mostly because of abuses that can occur whenever zealous crusaders get it in their head to zero in on a focused suspect at the expense of actual science. In the heat of the Madrid bombings in a post-9/11 world, the FBI screwed up royally when it mis-identified Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield as a suspect in the case, according to Glenn Fine, Inspector General for the Justice Department. Spanish police investigating the bombings had balked and warned the FBI that they were on the wrong trail, but apparently arrogance, overconfidence, and anti-terrorist fervor overruled this objection and Mayfield was arrested. After spending two weeks in jail and suffering the infamy of being linked to terrorist activity, he was later conclusively cleared, released from jail, and given an “apology” from the FBI.

In a classified report leaked to the press Friday, Fine nevertheless cleared the FBI of any intentional misconduct while citing some “troubling” areas of concern surrounding the procedures used by the FBI to apply this technology.

Few will be surprised to see the Justice Department clear its own FBI of any intentional wrongdoing (particularly since a lawsuit by Mayfield is currently pending); still, it’s refreshing to see them admit that this house needs cleaning.

Read about it here.

RP

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 7th, 2006 at 10:13 am and is filed under News, Junk Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.