seemingly unrelated crim news

1. i've long marveled at the false precision offered by scientific experts in courtroom testimony -- you know, our evidence confirms that there is a one in fourteen-gazillion chance that these prints came from someone other than the defendant, mr. uggen. once again, the national academy of sciences is calling for reforms in this area. the times calls a forthcoming NAS report "a sweeping critique of many forensic methods that the police and prosecutors rely on, including fingerprinting, firearms identification and analysis of bite marks, blood spatter, hair and handwriting."

2. a truly inspiring sociological criminologist wins the 2009 stockholm prize -- make that two truly inspiring sociological criminologists.

3. a new pew center report by mark hugo lopez and michael t. light documents some major shifts in the race, ethnicity, and national origin of u.s. federal prisoners.

4. while michael phelps wasn't taken into custody, his famous photo spurred arrest of seven fellow partiers. though mr. phelps lost a lucrative endorsement deal with kelloggs, he'll surely pick up some exciting new sponsors. apparently the bonggate seven won't be so lucky -- they're just stuck with a misdemeanor record and out of pocket $570.