The Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee today approved SB 1238 by Senators Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa and Joan Huffman expanding the jurisdiction of the Texas Forensic Science Commission in the wake of a limiting Attorney General opinion sought during John Bradley's ill-fated chairmanship. The bill allows the commission to investigate non-accredited forensic disciplines - like arson and fingerprinting - in addition to accredited crime labs. A committee substitute stripped out medical examiners from the commission's jurisdiction, which is a tad odd because the FSC has been dominated by medical examiners. But commission staff say that, if they were tasked to look into allegedly shoddy autopsies, they would have time to do little else. My boss Jeff Blackburn testified about the arson review that the Innocence Project of Texas is performing with the state fire marshal (which is a topic that earned Jeff few new friends when he spoke yesterday at a statewide conference of fire investigators that's currently happening in Austin).The FSC has no shortage of critics. Some in the labs dislike the oversight and there are reformers who consider it a toothless tiger. Granted, as a regulatory body it possesses little authority. But there are also major problems at forensic labs that would not have come out without their investigation. To the extent it's true sunlight is the best disinfectant, IMO that's still an important role to play.
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