Support While Social Distancing
The Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences has shifted to remote work as we practice social distancing in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Our staff, students, and volunteers are working remotely; we will continue to work for our clients, partners, and communities during this time because people deserve fair trials and fair treatment every single day, even when there is a national crisis.
We hope you stay safe and well during this time and reach out to others who are at risk. If you’re looking for ways to support the cause of justice while staying at home and social distancing, we have compiled some resources for you. Vulnerable people in jails and prisons still need help. The Innocence Project and the Justice Collaborative have created resources to help incarcerated people, including templates for letter-writing to your elected officials.
Because the safest thing to do is stay home right now, we have also provided some suggestions for docu-series and documentaries that are based around flawed forensic science and wrongful convictions. We hope you find them as informative and moving as we have.
Exhibit A streaming on Netflix-
This series examines the inaccuracy of widely used evidence techniques. Exhibit A covers forensic science techniques like photogrammetry, cadaver dog evidence, and touch DNA.
The Innocence Files streaming on Netflix-
Innocence Project co-founders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, along with other lawyers and experts, fight for justice in proving the innocence of eight people. This series focuses on the causes behind wrongful convictions.
Making a Murderer streaming on Netflix-
Steven Avery was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and freed with help from the Wisconsin Innocence Project (CIFS co-founder Keith Findley was a part of this effort). After his release from wrongful incarceration, he was accused of murder. Follow CIFS co-founders Dean Strang and Jerome Buting as they defend Steven Avery in his Manitowoc, Wisconsin trial. This series highlights the questionable forensic science and faulty interrogation techniques that can result in wrongful convictions.
When They See Us streaming on Netflix-
Five teenage boys of color are coerced into false confessions of an attack on a female jogger in Central Park in 1989. The story of the men who make up the Exonerated Five (formerly known as the Central Park Five) is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
What are you watching and learning? Share with us on social media!