Development & Implementation of forensic standards Lucy A. Davis Organization of Scientific Area Committees Forensic Science Standards Board Academy Standards Board

OSAC Registry Implementation Plan Academy Standards Board Process OSAC Registry Implementation Plan

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) American National Standards (ANS) A non-for-profile organization that oversees the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector of business. Represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide Facilitates the formation of standards in the U.S. and promotes the use of U. S. standards internationally ANS Standards developed by an ANSI accredited SDO that comply with the “ANSI Essential Requirements: Due process requirements for American National Standards” What are Standards? I can tell you before I got involved with the ASB, I had no idea what they were. The rest of the world uses standards. Most commonly used in Commerce to assure that the products you are purchasing do what you expect them to.

ANSI Essential Requirements: Due process requirements for American National Standards The hallmarks of Due Process include: Consensus must be reached by representatives from materially affected and interested parties Standards are required to undergo public reviews when any member of the public may submit comments Comments from the consensus body and public review commenters must be responded to in good faith An appeals process is required When a Standard is approved by ANSI to be an ANS, ANSI reviews the process the SDO does to develop the standard = reviews the due process

Academy Standards Board (ASB) An ANSI accredited Standards Development Organization (SDO) formed by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in February 2016 Currently there are 396 active members on the 12 Consensus Bodies administered by the ASB Anthropology Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Dogs and Sensors Disaster Victim Identification Forensic Biology Firearms and Toolmarks Footwear and Tire Forensic Document Examination Friction Ridge Medicolegal Death Investigation Toxicology Wildlife Forensics ASB CB fills the gap for forensic disciplines that have not been previously working with an SDO. Other SDOs that have developed forensic standards include ASTM, American Dental Association, the National Fire Protection Association

ASB Consensus Bodies (CB) 7 to 25 members selected from applicants by the ASB Members of CB must fall into one of eight (8) defined interest categories Academia Consumer Groups General Interest Producers Subject Matter Experts User/Government Laboratories and/or Testing User/Industry Facilities No more than one third of the membership of a CB can be in any one interest category – balance Any one can observe CB meetings. On average ASB has 35 CB and working group meetings a month. Calendar of meetings are on the ASB web-site with call in information. There are members of OSAC sub-committees on ASB CB, but they are not the majority of members

Overall ASB Document Process ASB Document Process follows ANSI accredited procedures New Work Proposal (NWP) submitted to, and approved by consensus body NWP approved by ASB to ensure alignment with overall mission of the organization Consensus Body (CB) develops document with support of Working Groups (WG) Official CB ballot vote on document concurrent with public comment period Consensus body or working group review all comments Once all public comments are resolved, the document is forwarded to ANSI for approval as an ANS Document publicly available on ASB website free of charge Currently the ASB work proposal are being submitted by OSAC sub-committees, although any one can propose a work proposal to ASB. How does an SDO supplement the OSAC process

Life of ANSI/ASB Standard 17 Standard Practices for Measurement Traceability in Forensic Toxicology 10/12/2016 Submitted to CB from OSAC Toxicology Subcommittee 11/1/2016 Approved by ASB for development 12/2/2016 National notification by ANSI that ASB is drafting a standard of this topic 1/25/2017 Draft standard published by ASB for Public Comment 3/13/2017 Public comment closed 173 comments received, 27 commenters from outside the ASB/OSAC 10/17/2017 Comments resolved and approved by CB 12/8/2017 Revised standard published by ASB for Public Comment 1/22/2018 Public comment closed 1 comment received Currently voting for submission to ANSI to for approval as an ANS Once ASB publishes ANSI/ASB Standard 17, it will be available for OSAC review for the OSAC Registry Once ASB publishes the standard, no matter what OSAC does, it exists. The OSAC Registry is reviewed to determine if a published standard is fit for purpose to be acknowledged for the forensic community

OSAC Registry Implementation Plan The Implementation Plan describes various pathways for OSAC to promote and encourage our partners and stakeholders to adopt and implement the approved standards listed on the OSAC Registry. The Plan describes strategies within these pathways that OSAC and the FSSB may leverage to encourage support from forensic service providers, associations, criminal justice system, academia, and federal, state, and local agencies. The ultimate goal is to have stakeholders in the forensic science community and criminal justice community embrace the approved standards listed on the OSAC Registry and implement them into every day practice. Now the Standard is out there, why di we do all this work just to have a piece of paper floating around. The is why the OSAC FSSB is working to come up with a way to encourage adoption. Understand this is a work in progress

The Registry Implementation Plan Specific partners and stakeholders targeted: Forensic Science Service and Medical Providers Self-Adoption OSAC Members External Engagement Forensic Science Professional Associations Legal Community Certification Bodies Accreditation Bodies Funding Bodies State Forensic Science Commissions / Regulatory Authorities International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Educational Programs

The Registry Implementation Plan Description Implementation Approach Rationale Stakeholders / Target Audience for Outreach Barriers to Implementation Engagement Plan Responsible OSAC Units In developing this plan we tried to look at what we could do to convince people to adopt the standards

Legal Community Implementation Plan Description The Legal Community has extensive power related to the requirements of science admitted into court proceedings. The impact includes admissibility of forensic procedures and analyst testimony in not only criminal but also in civil litigation actions. Rationale Courts have a vested interested to ensure that accuracy regarding the presentation of forensic science evidence best represents the impartiality of the legal system. Providing validated and scientifically sound forensic sciences to all sides in the courtroom is a fundamental expectation of jurisprudence. Determining guilt or innocence is the purview of the court, not the forensic science practitioner.

Legal Community Implementation Plan Stakeholders / Target Audience for Outreach American Bar Association (ABA) National Association of District Attorneys (NADA) Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA) National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO) American Judges Association (AJA) National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) Appellant level judges Forensic scientists providing testimony and education to the legal community

Legal Community Implementation Plan Barriers to Implementation Suspicions from defense attorneys regarding long-standing relationships between prosecutors / law enforcement and the forensic science community. Pre-conceived concepts and biases about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of forensic science and their adoption of sound scientific principles. Concerns of the forensic scientist bias with interpretation and presentation of evidence. Juries bring their own biases and can be confused with technical and scientific language or principles when presented by forensic science practitioners. What barriers might we come up against when we try to get people to adopt

Legal Community Implementation Plan Outreach Present at annual conferences of the legal associations. Make the legal community aware of the standards available, what they mean, and how their implementation works Have attorneys present and discuss Provide training to said organizations to enhance understanding of forensic science, its benefits and limitations. It is important that the legal community has a basic understanding the standards and how they apply to the forensic scientist's work Better educate the public in that they may be part of a jury.

Moving forward? Development and Adoption Join an ASB CB Currently reviewing the CB membership for participation and balance Most CB do not have a full roster of 25 people Consumer Groups and Producers ASB.AAFS.ORG Provide feedback when drafts and requests for public comments are published either by OSAC, ASB and other applicable SDO The Draft OSAC Registry Implementation Plan is currently published on the OSAC website. Feedback requested by email to forensics@nist.gov by June 21, 2018 at 11:59pm EDT We need your help. The Implementation plan is a draft and a collection of thoughts of the FSSB, any input we can receive with help. Peanut butter sandwich standard, placed on the Organization of Peanut Butter Committees, advertise that you make you PB sandwich to the OPBC standards.