A Response to: 'Nist Experts Urge Caution in Use of Courtroom Evidence Presentation Method'

Abstract

A press release from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could potentially impede progress toward improving the analysis of forensic evidence and the presentation of forensic analysis results in courts in the United States and around the world. “NIST experts urge caution in use of courtroom evidence presentation method” was released on October 12, 2017, and was picked up by the phys.org news service. It argues that, except in exceptional cases, the results of forensic analyses should not be reported as “likelihood ratios”. The press release, and the journal article by NIST researchers Steven P. Lund & Harri Iyer on which it is based, identifies some legitimate points of concern, but makes a strawman argument and reaches an unjustified conclusion that throws the baby out with the bathwater.