# FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades: Is forensic science all it's cracked up to be?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-admits-flaws-in-hair-analysis-over-decades-is-forensic-science-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/718384>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 23, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-admits-flaws-in-hair-analysis-over-decades-is-forensic-science-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/718384 "2015-04-23T20:14:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-admits-flaws-in-hair-analysis-over-decades-is-forensic-science-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/718384/61 "2015-04-27T19:21:39Z")

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> [@davidm](#):
>
> There’s another piece to all of this. Plea bargains.
> 
> If a person is innocent, but they’re told that there are lab results that, at least in their mind, may convince a jury, they’re then faced with a terrible decision.
> 
> That leads to a question. If someone makes a plea bargain based on questionable evidence, is there any recourse later on?

Usually not.

Lots of the people that were exonerated by DNA, for instance, had confessed to their crimes, in return for taking the death penalty off the table.

Confessions are a big barrier to getting a court to re-examine a case.

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**Author:** ![Haberdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Haberdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haberdash)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-admits-flaws-in-hair-analysis-over-decades-is-forensic-science-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/718384/62 "2015-04-27T20:48:50Z")

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> [@Diceman](#):
>
> I don’t know anything about forensics, but I do work in a testing lab. One of the cardinal rules is that payment for our work is _never_ tied to whether or not the customer likes the results. To do so is to set the stage for a confict of interest.
> 
> And yes, we will happily report that your samples are cheap shit that don’t meet requirements. But probably not in those exact words 😉

It’s all about incentives – your reports mean nothing if they can be bought, and you most likely work with professionals who have at least a BA in chemistry.

Crime labs’ incentives are solely to the police and prosecutor, and the people who work there are “criminal justice” graduates at best (people from one of the weakest academic programs, who are basically from the same pool that could be on trial).

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**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-admits-flaws-in-hair-analysis-over-decades-is-forensic-science-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/718384/63 "2015-04-27T21:47:16Z")

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> [@Haberdash](#):
>
> It’s all about incentives – your reports mean nothing if they can be bought, and you most likely work with professionals who have at least a BA in chemistry.
> 
> Crime labs’ incentives are solely to the police and prosecutor, and the people who work there are “criminal justice” graduates at best (people from one of the weakest academic programs, who are basically from the same pool that could be on trial).

Please cite the information above? Please cite the number of people working for the FBI, whom we are taking about, that are criminal justice graduates.

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