BILL NUMBER: S1274
SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reforming the commis-
sion on forensic science; and to amend the executive law and the admin-
istrative code of the city of New York, in relation to making conforming
changes; and to repeal certain provisions of the executive law relating
thereto
 
PURPOSE OF BILL:
To improve the structure and function of the existing New York State
Commission on Forensic Science and modernize its powers and duties to
meet today's needs. Making the Commission more independent, accountable,
and transparent, while vesting it with the power to conduct meaningful
investigations, will strengthen forensic science in criminal courts,
improve public trust, and reduce wrongful convictions while preserving
the right to a fair trial.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The bill amends Executive Law § 995 to modernize the article's defi-
nitions. For example, the definition "forensic testing" is updated to
include new and emerging technologies and methods. And the definition of
"forensic laboratory" is amended to expand the commission's oversight to
include both publicly and non-publicly funded laboratories that operate
within and out of State.
The bill amends § 995-a to make the Commission on Forensic Science inde-
pendent and to diversify perspectives of membership and modernize its
composition by reducing it to nine members: seven scientists who cover
the fields of forensic science, technology, clinical laboratory science,
statistics, scientific ethics, racial justice, and cognitive bias and
two criminal legal system practitioners. The section also creates three
permanent advisory committees to support the commission with its objec-
tives to advance the equitable, scientific, and objective use of foren-
sic sciences and technologies in the criminal legal system, while
retaining ultimate authority in the commission: a scientific advisory
committee composed of forensic scientists and research scientists; a
social justice, ethics and equity assessment committee composed of
impacted community members as well as those with expertise in ethics and
equity and in algorithmic bias detection and mitigation; and a forensic
analyst license advisory committee composed of members from the forensic
science community.
The bill creates a new § 995-aa to define the roles and responsibilities
of the three permanent advisory committees to the commission.
The bill amends § 995-b to add new powers and duties to the commission,
including: the duty to generate an annual report; the duty to create a
code of professional conduct to govern forensic science practitioners in
the state; the duty to evaluate and update the system of laboratory
accreditation every five years; the power to conduct robust investi-
gations of professional negligence or misconduct and of forensic testing
methods; the power to subpoena witnesses and documents; and the duty to
create and implement a forensic analyst licensing program that ensures
ongoing competence and high standards of practice. This section also
gives the commission the ability to request an expansion of its juris-
diction to keep pace with scientific and technical developments.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The current NYS Commission on Forensic Science was created in 1994
during the rise of traditional forensic DNA analysis to specifically
oversee the use of those early DNA technologies. The Commission's
responsibilities, structure, and function have not been substantively
updated since. Today, however, New York is faced with far more complex
and emerging forensic technologies. An update to New York's oversight
structure is necessary to ensure that the broad range of forensic
science methods and technologies that are proposed for use in New York's
courts are accurate, reliable, equitably deployed, and ethically used.
Decades of problems in New York's crime laboratories make the need for a
modern Commission on Forensic Science not only apparent, but urgent. For
example, in a series of investigation reports that spanned the early
2000s, the state's Inspector General found systemic issues of laboratory
failure - including falsified test results, professional incompetence,
and profound supervisory and oversight failures - in multiple crime
laboratories across the state, including labs in Nassau, Erie, and
Monroe Counties and labs overseen by the New York State Police. In just
the past few years, there have been even more scandals involving the
Niagara County Sheriffs Office Forensic Laboratory, the New York City
Police Department's Latent Print Unit, and the New York City Office of
the Chief Medical Examiner's Department of Forensic Biology.
Making three major changes to the New York State Commission on Forensic
Science, this bill (1) restores substantive oversight power to the
Commission by explicitly vesting it with investigative and disciplinary
authority, (2) requires transparency by limiting the use of executive
session and constructing a uniform system for licensure and reporting,
and (3) preserves our community and Constitutional values by creating
three new advisory committees to the Commission including a first-of-
its-kind social justice, ethics, and equity assessment committee.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S9672 (Gianaris) PASSED SENATE
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become law.