Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Grits for Breakfast

Criminal Law

: Grits for Breakfast

Every snowflake is different except for the ones that are not: DNA not immune to forensic science critiques

No two snowflakes are alike, we're told, though clearly the possibility that duplicate snowflakes may have existed at some point throughout history remains unmeasured and speculative.Much of modern forensic science relies on the same unproven assumption. Handwriting analysts think no two people's penmanship are the same. Tires and shoes, we're told, wear and tear differently and may be identified by an "expert" in court. Even earprints have been claimed to be unique.Ballistics analysts say each gun fired leave unique markings. Fingerprint analysts rely on the notion that no two people could possibly have the same one. And of course, DNA technology seeks to identify us using the ultimate extension of the snowflake theory - the biological roots of human individuality itself...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on July 22, 2008 (boomark / email).