Advocacy
About the Coverdell Act
Fund the Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Act
Legislative Background
During the 106th Congress the House and Senate passed the Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Act of 2000. That bill was signed into law by the President on December 21, 2000, but has yet to fully funded. Rather, Congress has provided funding strictly for DNA which represents only 5% of a crime lab backlog and case log.
Why Support the Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Act of 2000?
- It is the only mechanism which ensures that much needed money is available to all state and local laboratories which analyze more than 90% of all forensic cases in the United States.
- Only the Coverdell Act allows funding to go medical examiners where money is most desperately needed.
- The current funding mechanisms are earmarked so heavily that many states do not receive funds and thus are shutting down labs and medical examiner’s offices.
- The current President’s budget request does NOT allow for funds to be used for anything other than DNA analyses and backlog reduction – which represents only 5% of forensic work.
Justification
The American Society of Crime Laboratories conducted a survey of state and local forensic laboratories, which pointed out some of the critical needs of our nation’s forensic community. These included:
- 9000 more forensic scientists are needed.
- $1.3 billion is needed for facility modernization and construction.
- 26% of forensic laboratories do not have basic computer systems to track evidence.
- $285 million is needed for equipment in laboratories.
The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs recently released report on the nation's public forensic crime labs cites the growing backlog of cases and difficulty in providing the full spectrum of forensic services. The report noted:
- The backlog of forensic cases grew to more than 500,000 by the end of 2002.
- Crime labs could process less than 2.5 million of the 2.7 million annual requests for forensic laboratory services.
- Labs varied widely in their capacity to conduct various types of analyses:
- Only one in nine had the capability to conduct forensic computer analyses
- About half could process DNA evidence and toxicology analyses
- Six in 10 could conduct firearms and toolmark analyses, crime scene evidence collection, and trace evidence assessments
- Nine in 10 labs could handle fingerprint and controlled substances.
- The 50 largest publicly funded labs, accounting for almost half the cases, estimated the need for 930 additional full time staff to achieve a 30-day turnaround on all requests.