The United States Department of Justice, in participation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, created the National Commission on Forensic Science in 2013. The main reason for establishing the Commission was to address the problems of how scientific evidence is presented in criminal trials.

A sub-committee was created to address concerns regarding issues around the discovery of scientific evidence. The problem is that defendants in federal criminal cases have less protection with regards to scientific evidence than in civil cases.

Recently, the Office of the Attorney General issued a statement alleging  that discovery was not a part of the Commission's mandate. As a result, Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, a member of the Commission and the co-chair of the discovery sub-committee, resigned in utter disproval of this decision.  The Attorney General soon reconsidered the decision and permitted the Commission to consider issues relating to discovery.

Many prominent organizations support the work of the Forensic Science Commission, and its contributions addressing how scientific evidence is presented and examined in court. Discovery is a crucial issue affecting important rights of a criminal defendant and should not be taken lightly.

For more information on the resignation of Judge Rakoff and this controversy, check out this link…Washington Post: Judge Rakoff Returns to Forensic Panel after Justice Department Backs off Decision