Criminal Justice and Forensic Science

Criminal Justice and Forensic Science PDF Author: Lisa Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1137310278
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
An accessible guide for students across a variety of disciplines who are studying forensic evidence throughout the criminal justice system. Containing up to date and classic case studies, photos and examples, it assumes no prior scientific knowledge to ensure the discussion is clear but comprehensive.

Forensic Science and Law

Forensic Science and Law PDF Author: Cyril H. Wecht
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420058118
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 728

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Book Description
Forensic science has undergone dramatic progress in recent years, including in the areas of DNA collection and analysis and the reconstruction of crime scenes. However, too few professionals are equipped with the knowledge necessary to fully apply the potential of science in civil, criminal, and family legal matters. Featuring contributions from renowned experts in the forensic, scientific, and legal professions, Forensic Science and Law: Investigative Applications in Criminal, Civil, and Family Justice communicates the wide range of methods and approaches used for achieving justice in these circumstances. A solid grounding in the underlying principles of our legal system provides a context for understanding how these methods are applied. The book brings together the words and thoughts of diverse professionals whose common goal is to uncover the truth. About the editors... Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., is actively involved as a medical-legal and forensic science consultant, author, and lecturer. Currently coroner of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, he is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic, clinical, and forensic pathology and is a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Dr. Wecht is a Clinical Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Graduate School of Public Health, an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University Schools of Law, Pharmacy and Health Services, and a Distinguished Professor at Carlow University. He is a past president of both the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Dr. Wecht is the author of more than 500 professional publications and has appeared as a guest on numerous national television and radio talk shows. John T. Rago, J.D., is Assistant Professor of Law at Duquesne University School of Law and the Director of both The Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law and the Law School’s Post-conviction DNA Project. He teaches criminal law and procedure to law students and graduate courses on wrongful convictions, foundations in American law and constitutional criminal procedure to students in the university’s Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. Professor Rago also serves as an appointed member to the Innocence Project’s Policy Group of the Cardozo School of Law in New York. He is admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Forensic Identification and Criminal Justice

Forensic Identification and Criminal Justice PDF Author: Carole McCartney
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134013302
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
This book provides an account of the development of forensic identification technologies and the way in which this has impacted upon the legal system. It traces the advent of forensic identification technologies, focusing on fingerprinting and forensic DNA typing, and their growing deployment within the criminal justice system. It also elucidates the ways in which these new technologies are accelerating procedural changes to investigative practices, and shows the ways in which in some areas human rights (such as privacy rights and rights against discrimination) are coming under threat. The use of forensic evidence in criminal investigations and trials is analysed in detail. This book uncovers the way in which this new reliance on forensic technologies has gained a foothold within the criminal justice system, and the risks and dangers that this can pose. The National DNA Database provides a particular focus of attention. The author seeks to move beyond an approach that has seen forensic DNA profiling as error free, situating her analysis within broader risk discourses.

Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System

Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System PDF Author: M. Chris Fabricant
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1636140386
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Innocence Project attorney M. Chris Fabricant presents an insider’s journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role junk science plays in maintaining the status quo. Praise from John Grisham, author of A Time for Mercy: "No one in America will ever know the number of innocent people convicted, sent to prison, and even executed because of the flood of rotten forensics and bogus scientific opinions presented to juries. In this intriguing and beautifully crafted book, Innocence Project lawyer M. Chris Fabricant illustrates how wrongful convictions occur, and he makes it obvious how they could be prevented." "Fierce and absorbing . . . Fabricant chronicles the battles he and his colleagues have fought to unravel a century of fraudulent experts and the bad court decisions that allowed them to thrive." —Washington Post "Junk Science is a book that should be on every true-crime reader's shelves. It is an eye-opening and infuriating tour through the failed idealism of forensic science as a discipline, how certain techniques like analyzing fibers and bite marks wilt under scrutiny, and how the criteria for 'experts' in a courtroom can be laughable at best and dangerous at worst, causing scores of innocent people to lose decades behind bars (or, in some heartbreaking instances, their lives.)." —Slate, one of "The Best New True Crime That Won't Make You Feel Gross" From CSI to Forensic Files to the celebrated reputation of the FBI crime lab, forensic scientists have long been mythologized in American popular culture as infallible crime solvers. Juries put their faith in "expert witnesses" and innocent people have been executed as a result. Innocent people are still on death row today, condemned by junk science. In 2012, the Innocence Project began searching for prisoners convicted by junk science, and three men, each convicted of capital murder, became M. Chris Fabricant's clients. Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System chronicles the fights to overturn their wrongful convictions and to end the use of the "science" that destroyed their lives. Weaving together courtroom battles from Mississippi to Texas to New York City and beyond, Fabricant takes the reader on a journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role forensic science plays in maintaining the status quo. At turns gripping, enraging, illuminating, and moving, Junk Science is a meticulously researched insider's perspective of the American criminal justice system. Previously untold stories of wrongful executions, corrupt prosecutors, and quackery masquerading as science animate Fabricant’s true crime narrative.

Forensics Under Fire

Forensics Under Fire PDF Author: Jim Fisher
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813544246
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Television shows like CSI, Forensic Files, and The New Detectives make it look so easy. A crime-scene photographer snaps photographs, a fingerprint technician examines a gun, uniformed officers seal off a house while detectives gather hair and blood samples, placing them carefully into separate evidence containers. In a crime laboratory, a suspect's hands are meticulously examined for gunshot residue. An autopsy is performed in order to determine range and angle of the gunshot and time-of-death evidence. Dozens of tests and analyses are performed and cross-referenced. A conviction is made. Another crime is solved. The credits roll. The American public has become captivated by success stories like this one with their satisfyingly definitive conclusions, all made possible because of the wonders of forensic science. Unfortunately, however, popular television dramas do not represent the way most homicide cases in the United States are actually handled. Crime scenes are not always protected from contamination; physical evidence is often packaged improperly, lost, or left unaccounted for; forensic experts are not always consulted; and mistakes and omissions on the autopsy table frequently cut investigations short or send detectives down the wrong investigative path. In Forensics Under Fire, Jim Fisher makes a compelling case that these and other problems in the practice of forensic science allow offenders to escape justice and can also lead to the imprisonment of innocent people. Bringing together examples from a host of high-profile criminal cases and familiar figures, such as the JonBenet Ramsey case and Dr. Henry Lee who presented physical evidence in the O. J. Simpson trial, along with many lesser known but fascinating stories, Fisher presents daunting evidence that forensic science has a long way to go before it lives up to its potential and the public's expectations.

The Washing Away of Wrongs

The Washing Away of Wrongs PDF Author: Ci Song
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0892648007
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
An English translation of the oldest extant book on forensic medicine in the world

Forensic Science and the Administration of Justice

Forensic Science and the Administration of Justice PDF Author: Kevin J. Strom
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483324400
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Uniting forensics, law, and social science in meaningful and relevant ways, Forensic Science and the Administration of Justice, by Kevin J. Strom and Matthew J. Hickman, is structured around current research on how forensic evidence is being used and how it is impacting the justice system. This unique book—written by nationally known scholars in the field—includes five sections that explore the demand for forensic services, the quality of forensic services, the utility of forensic services, post-conviction forensic issues, and the future role of forensic science in the administration of justice. The authors offer policy-relevant directions for both the criminal justice and forensic fields and demonstrate how the role of the crime laboratory in the American justice system is evolving in concert with technological advances as well as changing demands and competing pressures for laboratory resources.

Criminalistics: Forensic Science, Crime and Terrorism

Criminalistics: Forensic Science, Crime and Terrorism PDF Author: James E. Girard
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
ISBN: 1449654363
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 543

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Book Description
Criminalistics: Forensic Science, Crime and Terrorism, Second Edition introduces readers with no background in biology or chemistry, to the study of forensic science, crime analysis and application. Principle topics such as fingerprint identification, DNA, paint and glass analysis, drug toxicology, and forensic soil characterization are thoroughly explained in a reader-friendly manner. Unlike other texts available on this topic, this Second Edition is updated to include comprehensive coverage on important homeland security issues including explosives, weapons of mass destruction, and cybercrime. Key Features: * New case studies and updated sections on analysis of fingerprints and questioned documents offer recent developments and findings in this critical field. * Two new chapters on chemistry and biology equip readers with the foundation and tools necessary to understand more advanced topics. * Extensive updating of Chapter 11 “Drug Use and Abuse,” provides the latest methods of drug testing and analysis by federal and state law enforcement agencies. Instructor Resources: * Answers to end of chapter questions * Lecture Outlines * Test Bank * PowerPoint Lecture Outlines Student Resources: * Companion Website (secure) featuring: - web links - interactive glossary - interactive flashcards - chapter spotlights - crossword puzzles *Access to the student companion website can be purchased here http://www.jblearning.com/catalog/9780763789947/. Bundles: * Criminalistics with Brown Lab Manual * Criminalistics with Companion Website * Criminalistsics with with Brown Lab Manual and Companion Website * Criminalistics with Current Topics in Ethics eChapters

Criminal Justice and Forensic Science

Criminal Justice and Forensic Science PDF Author: Lisa Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1137310278
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
An accessible guide for students across a variety of disciplines who are studying forensic evidence throughout the criminal justice system. Containing up to date and classic case studies, photos and examples, it assumes no prior scientific knowledge to ensure the discussion is clear but comprehensive.

Forensic Science and the Administration of Justice

Forensic Science and the Administration of Justice PDF Author: Kevin J. Strom
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483312984
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Uniting forensics, law, and social science in meaningful and relevant ways, Forensic Science and the Administration of Justice, by Kevin J. Strom and Matthew J. Hickman, is structured around current research on how forensic evidence is being used and how it is impacting the justice system. This unique book—written by nationally known scholars in the field—includes five sections that explore the demand for forensic services, the quality of forensic services, the utility of forensic services, post-conviction forensic issues, and the future role of forensic science in the administration of justice. The authors offer policy-relevant directions for both the criminal justice and forensic fields and demonstrate how the role of the crime laboratory in the American justice system is evolving in concert with technological advances as well as changing demands and competing pressures for laboratory resources.

Forensic Criminology

Forensic Criminology PDF Author: Wayne Petherick
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0123785731
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 625

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Book Description
Forensic Criminology gives students of criminology and criminal justice an introduction to the forensic realm and the applied forensic issues they will face when working cases within the justice system. It effectively bridges the theoretical world of social criminology with the applied world of the criminal justice system. While most of the competing textbooks on criminology adequately address the application and the social theory to the criminal justice system, the vast majority do not include casework or real-world issues that criminologists face. This book focuses on navigating casework in forensic contexts by case-working criminologists, rather than broad social theory. It also allows criminology/criminal justice instructors outside of the forensic sciences the ability to develop and instruct a core course that might otherwise be considered beyond their expertise, or in conflict with forensic courses taught in chemistry, biology, or medical programs at their institutions because of its focus on criminology and criminal justice careers. With its practical approach, this textbook is well-suited for forensic criminology subjects being taught and developed in law, criminology, and criminal justice programs around the world. Approaches the study of criminology from an applied standpoint, moving away from the purely theoretical Contains relevant and contemporary case examples to demonstrate the application of forensic criminology Provides an integrated philosophy with respect to criminology, forensic casework, criminal investigations, and the law Useful for students and professionals in the area of criminology, criminal justice, criminal investigation, forensic science, and the law