Tuesday, October 2, 2012

More Phony Drug Tests

The Saint Paul, Minnesota police crime lab has been in hot water because virtually none of the people that worked there actually knew how to operate drug testing equipment, the scientific basis for convictions in that city and and surrounding locales that used the lab for their own cases, throwing the results of these cases into serious doubt, as is told here. While the St. Paul affair seems to be caused by ineptitude rather than malice, the following incident in Boston is of greater concern. This lab worker provided false test results apparently in order solidify her position in the organization. No one knows, or will probably ever know, exactly how many innocent individuals were sentenced to prison on the basis of these fraudulent tests and how much wealth went from the pockets of them and their relatives to pay attorneys to unsuccessfully defend them. Perhaps the Ninth Commandment: You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.; Exodus 23: 1-2, isn't as important anymore as, let's say the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution. Nevertheless, the apparatchiks involved in the criminal justice system need to be held responsible for the impartiality and accuracy of their work.

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