Legal scholar Jennifer E. Laurin will address the reliability of forensic evidence at the fifth annual Judge Stephanie K. Seymour Lecture in Law at The University of Tulsa College of Law on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.
Reception, the Pit, John Rogers Hall: 5:30 p.m.

Lecture, Price & Turpen Courtroom, John Rogers Hall

Forensic science practices and usage in the criminal justice system are increasingly a subject of critical attention, according to a release from TU. Significant advancements in DNA technology have led to increased use and novel applications of forensic science within the law enforcement community, and have generated enthusiasm for expanding the availability of scientific evidence in criminal investigations. Simultaneously, the exonerations of the last decade and a half have focused attention on the potential for error in and misuse of scientific analysis in criminal adjudication.

A number of academic and legislative proposals have aimed to reform forensic science, largely by focusing on laboratory practices and courtroom procedures. Laurin's work aims to illuminate how forensic science is not simply produced from a laboratory but is also deployed in pretrial activities by police and prosecutors - dynamics that she argues must be confronted because the actual institutional and structural context within which forensic science operates might undermine gains that are predicted from laboratory and courtroom reforms. More broadly, Laurin aims to advance the view that any criminal justice reform efforts must attend to the structural and institutional dynamics that drive criminal justice outcomes.

Laurin is an assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Law. Laurin earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. in politics from Earlham College. Laurin joined the faculty of the University of Texas School of Law in 2009. She served as a law clerk to Judge Thomas Griesa of the Southern District of New York and Judge Guido Calabresi of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and spent several years as a litigation associate with the New York City civil rights firm of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin LLP, formerly Cochran Neufeld & Scheck LLP. Laurin is widely published in the areas of criminal and constitutional litigation, and regulation of criminal justice institutions.