Innocent In Prison Project International

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Justice For All Act

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/factshts/justforall/welcome.html

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Neufeld testifies at U.S. Senate hearing on crime lab oversight

This morning, Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld told members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that serious flaws in the oversight of crime labs have compromised our criminal justice system.

"This has to be fixed," Neufeld told the committee about the oversight problem. "And until it's fixed, there will continue to be wrongful convictions and there will continue to be instances where the real perpetrator of these crimes is out committing additional crimes."

Neufeld was joined in Washington, D.C., by exonerees Marvin Anderson, Kirk Bloodsworth and Charles Chatman, who together served 50 years in prison for crimes DNA later proved they did not commit.

Today’s testimony comes after the Department of Justice Inspector General released a report last week pointing to major problems in the way allegations of misconduct at crime labs are handled. In 2004, Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which calls for states receiving federal money for forensic testing to have an independent entity in place to investigate allegations of misconduct. This is the second time in three years that the DOJ Inspector General has called attention to the lack of independent oversight.

Read more about today’s hearing, and download the full DOJ report. http://innocenceproject.org/Content/1805.php