Criminal justice

As deepfakes blur the line between truth and fiction, we’ll need a new class of forensic experts to determine what’s real, what’s fake and what can be proved in court

Criminals around the world are increasingly mixing trade in illegal animal parts with trafficking of arms, humans, and more—even exchanging wildlife for drugs

Millions of older adults lose their savings to scams every year. There are ways to reduce the risk

How a determined socialite, inspired by true crime, helped professionalize the field of murder investigations

Sex is not one single, simple, uniform biological reality, so biology cannot be invoked as a basis for “immutable” legal classifications

Three forensic examiners at the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory last year mistakenly concluded that cartridge cases from a crime scene matched a specific firearm. The error exposes systemic flaws that risk wrongful convictions

Despite investigative genetic genealogy revolutionizing cold case investigations, it has been underused to free the wrongly convicted

What was once fair under the law may become unfair when science changes. The law must react to uphold due process

Convicted of a crime that never happened, Roberson’s case is a prime example of how the U.S. legal system often fails to recognize advances in scientific knowledge

Drug policy continues to fixate on symptoms rather than the actual disease

While most Americans enjoy access to marijuana, barriers to research and knowledge expansion persist—with dangerous consequences. Unlimited research access is needed

At least 230 new climate cases were filed in 2023, but researchers noted the growth of such cases was slower than in prior years