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Bulletins & Updates The Crime Lab Project sends occasional newsletters out via email which can also be found here, with the most recent at the top. We'd love to have you join the mailing list! 2005 
Date: November 30, 2005 Your Support Pays Off for Crime Labs! Many thanks to all of you who phoned or e-mailed your Congressional representatives. Your support is making a difference. You helped forensic science labs to obtain $18 million in grants funding for the Coverdell National Forensic Science Improvement Act this year. Although still far short of what is needed, this represents the highest amount ever allocated to Coverdell grants. As you may know, Coverdell grants allow labs throughout the U.S. and its territories to apply for funds. This $18 million will allow labs and projects that might have been overlooked by other Congressional funding processes to receive much needed help. The Consortium of Forensic Science Organization's lobbyist, Beth Lavach, also reports that key language in the bill will establish a committee on forensic science in the National Academy of Science. This should be of help to Congress in its decision-making on priorities for forensic science funding. To download a brochure about the National Academies Study Process, click here. If you would like to learn more about the Coverdell Act, visit the National Institute of Justice Web site. To see a table of projects helped by Coverdell Act funds in FY 2004, click here. ******* Please Thank Two U.S. Senators Who Helped Please take the time to call or send an e-mail to thank Senator Jeff Sessions and Senator Richard Shelby, who provided key support for Coverdell funding. Senator Shelby's offices can be reached at (202) 224-5744 in Washington D.C. or at (205) 759-5047 in Tuscaloosa, or by e-mail at senator@shelby.senate.gov. Senator Sessions's office can be reached at (202) 224-4124 in Washington D.C. or at (334) 244-7017 in Montgomery, or by e-mail at senator@sessions.senate.gov. And don't forget to let your own legislators know that you are pleased that the Coverdell National Forensic Science Improvement Act was funded this year! ******* The Crime Lab Project Receives Endorsements from Two Major Writers Organizations Two major organizations representing writers of crime fiction have recently endorsed the Crime Lab Project! In October, Mystery Writers of America became the first writers organization to endorse the Crime Lab Project. MWA national board member Robert S. Levinson brought the suggestion of an endorsement to MWA's public relations committee, which then approved it and brought the matter to the national board. The national board approved the motion unanimously. The endorsement will allow the Crime Lab Project to reach the more than 3000 members of MWA to ask for their support. Also in the works are a series of educational seminars throughout the country to increase awareness of the importance of providing adequate support for crime labs. Executive Vice President Noreen Wald said the board is urging support by MWA members and chapters "to repay the generosity of forensic scientists and experts who have long assisted crime writers with their books, stories, films, television shows, and other works." To learn more about Mystery Writers of America and to read a press release about its endorsement, please visit their website. In November, Sisters in Crime added its endorsement of the Crime Lab Project. Sisters in Crime includes over 3400 members in 48 chapters world-wide, and is dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women authors in the mystery field. Sisters in Crime President Libby Fischer Hellmann said, "When we discovered only five per cent of the backlogged cases involve DNA, we realized there's a serious problem out there. Labs can not do the job we expect them to do without adequate budget and staff. Sisters in Crime wants to help in whatever way we can." You can learn more about Sisters in Crime at their website. ****** Forensic Science News Delivered to You Twice Weekly—Free! Did you know that a young man has been jailed for over a year in Alabama, while the Alabama State Lab has yet to complete tests on evidence from the murder of his parents? According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the state lab reports a backlog "about 1,700 DNA cases, 12,000 drug cases, 2,000 toxicology cases and 200 firearms evidence cases." That a California coroner's office is using a Web site similar to one used in Mexico to aid in the identification of John and Jane Doe cases, setting up a "virtual morgue, complete with photos of the deceased and a description of when, where and how they were found."? That according to one news source, "In Los Angeles, where CSI is produced, DNA technology is even slower than it is in many other places. In 1999, the LAPD crime lab had only two DNA criminalists on staff, and a backlog of thousands of cases. New York City was up to 85 criminalists. Now, 19 criminalist positions are funded for the LAPD lab, 16 of them filled. New York is up to 108; Chicago has 52." That in Texas, one firearms expert is being overwhelmed, because he is the only examiner hired to process evidence from 43 counties? These stories all appeared in recent issues of the CLP News. You can sign up now for the CLP News! You'll receive a twice weekly summary of news stories about forensic science from the U.S. and around the world. Links are provided to the full stories. Subscribing to the CLP News will not only allow you to keep up with news about crime labs and forensic science, it will help you to talk about the Crime Lab Project to others. These articles will help you to demonstrate to others that there is a real need to provide better support to crime labs. Just send a blank e-mail to: CLPNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ****** Two Years of the Crime Lab Project The Crime Lab Project celebrated its second anniversary in October. Over the past two years, we've seen increased awareness of the issues facing labs and more funding allocated to them. Many thanks to all of you who have given your time and effort to the CLP. We've also become aware that to take the next set of steps needed to help public crime labs, the CLP must become more formally organized. To create a recognizable constituency of support for crime labs and to better coordinate our educational efforts, we must move ahead and be willing to change. We will keep you posted on these changes as they happen, and hope we can count on your continued support. Imagine this: accredited crime labs and medical examiners offices housed in adequate and safe facilities, fully staffed with well-trained individuals, supplied with equipment that meets their needs. Evidence controlled and properly stored. Testing completed within the time frame needed for the test itself. Preparations in place for forensic science needs in emergencies and disasters. DNA samples taken from all unidentified bodies in every morgue in the country and entered into a national database, so that thousands of American families who are searching for missing loved ones may find closure. These and other goals are within our grasp. We know it will take time and effort to reach them, but none are impossible. With your help, we look forward to a day when the forensic science lab is no longer the waiting room for justice. Thank you for making a difference.
Date: August 1, 2005 Support for FY06 Appropriations bill Senate Report 109-88 Three e-mails. U.S. public forensic science labs urgently need you to send three e-mails. One to each of your Senators, one to your Representative in the House, urging support of FY06 Appropriations bill Senate Report 109-88. (Be sure to include your name and address on any e-mails you send to Congress.) Time and time again, in hundreds of news stories, those on our CLP News list (to join, find out more here or send a blank email to clpnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) have read about some of the problems facing our public forensic science labs: of backlogs, of equipment and staff shortages, of overcrowded working conditions in outdated facilities -- but worse, of justice delayed or failed, of individuals suffering or lives lost because we did not provide support for forensic science in the U.S. The country loves CSI, we watch the Forensic Files every week, and we don't fund the labs these shows are about. The result is real-life tragedy. As many of you know, the Crime Lab Project seeks full funding for the Paul Coverdell Forensics Science Technology Act. This law allows Congress to provide desperately needed funds for public forensic science labs and medical examiners offices. In the past, we've made a difference and helped labs to receive these funds. We're asking your help to make a difference again. Today we are at a critical point in the legislative process to obtain funds -- the empty "bank account" was created in 2000 with unanimous support in the House and Senate. Now we need Congress to deposit funds in the account. That can happen if Congress supports FY06 Appropriations bill Senate Report 109-88. If you need more information on the Coverdell Act, you can find it on the Crime Lab Project Web site by clicking here. CONTACT: Please take the time to call, e-mail, or fax your members of Congress today. (Please do NOT snail mail a letter through the US post office -- due to anthrax screening precautions, a letter won't get there in time, if at all.) We especially need contact with subcommittee members Shelby (AL), Gregg (NH), Stevens (Alaska), Domenici (NM), McConnell (KY), Hutchison (TX), Brownback (KS), Bond (MO) Mikulski (MD), Inouye (HI), Leahy (VT), Kohl (WI), Murray (WA), Harkin (ID), Dorgan (ND) -- but your contact with any member of Congress helps. Contact information for the Senate and House for every state can be found here. Scroll down until you see your state and click on the link. That PDF will give you fax numbers and phone numbers, too. You can also almost always e-mail from Congressional Web sites, or use them to learn your representatives' names: www.senate.gov or www.house.gov/writerep If you have time, we also ask that you send messages to art_cameron@appro.senate.gov and fax Senator Shelby at 202-224-3416. SAMPLE MESSAGE: The Honorable [First I. Last] United States Senate Washington, DC Dear Senator [Last]: I am strongly supportive of the language in the FY06 Appropriations bill Senate Report 109-88 which funds the Paul Coverdell Forensics Science Technology Act and the formation by the National Academy of Sciences of an independent Forensic Science Committee. I sincerely urge you to keep this legislation in the conference report as your process to reconcile the two bills moves forward. Studies by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and NIJ support what forensic scientists and informed members of the public know so well: there is a serious and growing backlog of cases throughout the crime labs and related forensics facilities in the country. As a result, many victims of crime are left without answers, the innocent are held while testing is delayed, and criminals are unidentified and unapprehended as evidence sits unexamined. Coverdell funding provides help for labs in the ways they most need it. The funding which this bill offers can begin to address the lack of staffing, equipment and training. We must start now to resolve the problems created by a lack of support for forensic science labs. I urge you to support FY06 Appropriations bill Senate Report 109-88. Thank you for your help. Sincerely, [your name] [your address] [your city and state] PLEASE NOTE that you should include your address in communications with your representative -- they are likely to ignore e-mail that doesn't let them know you live in their district or state. ************************* Please don't put this off -- contact your representatives today. PLEASE FORWARD this e-mail to your friends and family members, asking them to let Congress know that Coverdell is important and worthy of full funding. Thank you for your help at this critical time in the funding process.
Date: March 31, 2005 Updated on May 4, 2005 All the Latest First and foremost, many thanks! We didn't ask for dues or donations. We asked you to speak up and take action, and you did! The CLP continues to grow and to make a difference. I'm happy to announce that the Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Act of 2000 received new funding this year! Because of efforts like yours, the federal government will be spending $15 million on labs that otherwise would not have been allocated to them. We also appreciate your support of funding for DNA backlog grants, which are also making a real impact. While funding amounts are still far below the level needed to operate public crime labs as they should be -- with adequate facilities, equipment, and staff -- we are making progress! You are already making a difference in the level of support crime labs are receiving. Not only is the public being made more aware of the problems labs face, and the terrible effect those problems have on criminal justice, national security, and individuals safety, we're also seeing changes in how Congress views these matters. Where we are going Every year, a new federal funding battle begins. We are again going to bat for additional Coverdell funds. Ask others to call or e-mail their members of Congress, to say that Coverdell funding is important. Our Web site now has more resources on it for those of you who want a better understanding of how the federal budget process works, and how Coverdell funding is different from other kinds of funds for forensic science. DNA is getting good support, but as one lab director put it so well, "Putting all funding support into DNA testing is like having a car with four bald tires and buying one really great tire for your car. You are still inviting disaster." DNA testing is important -- we don't want to leave that tire bald, either! The problem is that convictions rely on a wide range of evidence, not just DNA. DNA evidence is not available, useable, or relevant in every case. A shooting in a convenience store is unlikely to produce useful DNA evidence, nor will an Internet child pornography case. To convict someone of running a meth lab, you need more than DNA. In cases where a killer was familiar with the victim, DNA may not be useful. And even in cases where DNA is useful, other evidence also matters, all evidence must be collected and stored properly, and staff other than those doing the actual testing are needed. What can you do now?
Want to keep up with news about crime labs? Subscribe to CLPNews@yahoogroups.com , a free list that is sent by e-mail on Mondays and Wednesdays. The CLP is a brief digest of national and international news about forensic science and crime labs, forensic evidence in court cases, and uses of forensic science, with links to the full news stories. To join the list, send a blank e-mail message to CLPNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Free Computer/Monitor Calendars! We now have more of the popular CLP computer monitor/keyboard calendars. They run from 2/2005 to 1/2006, so they're still good for many months of use. They are one inch tall and a little over twelve inches long, and have an adhesive-backing. Best of all, they are easy to remove when the year is over. These handy calendars are free while supply lasts. Here's a poor version of what they look like, because Jan couldn't fit one on her scanner!  If you wanted a calendar and didn't get one, or want more to distribute to others, please send your snail mail address to crime @ crimelabproject.com (delete the spaces in this address before you use it) -- let us know how many you can use (and please put "calendars" in the subject line). Writers, these are a great thing to give out at speaking engagements!
For previous newsletters, please click here. 
Last updated: March 27, 2006 |
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