Late last month, Legal Times reporter and blogger Zoe Tillman reported on a bill that was proposed to the D.C. Council that would mandate the use of certain police-administered eyewitness identification procedures. If passed, this bill would also penalize failures to follow these procedures, failures which could adversely affect the admissibility of eyewitness evidence in courts.
Not all parties agree with the proposal, though. Assistant U.S. attorney Patricia Riley, for instance, says that certain procedures, such as the "double-blind" lineup where both the investigator and the witness are blind to the identity of the suspect, will not necessarily improve existing procedures. Indeed, studies have generally been inconclusive on the effectiveness of the "double-blind" procedure. However, researchers have criticized field studies that find "double-blind" lineups less or equally effective to normal lineups. They argue that some of these studies are confounded because they do not appropriately control for certain variables. For example, the Illinois field study in 2006 compares the performance of police departments that use both "double-blind" and sequential lineup procedures to departments that do not use either procedure. Other arguments against the proposal of this bill come from members of law enforcement, who say that it would be difficult for police to adjust to new practices if best practices were to change in the future.
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The most important thing I learned from my researching/writing experience this week is that I really should not procrastinate. As I approach the end of the semester, it is really time for me to stay on top of things and be organized. That is why I am planning on printing out all of my annotations, or at least reorganizing them on my computer so that I have a clear view of what information I have and what information I still need to find to write my final paper. I am a bit hesitant on spending even more money (and wasting trees!) printing out physical copies, but I think being able to shuffle notes and pieces of information around will be beneficial to me.
I hope you will continue to read my blog as I complete my annotations and finally, my research paper. Have a wonderful weekend!
Not all parties agree with the proposal, though. Assistant U.S. attorney Patricia Riley, for instance, says that certain procedures, such as the "double-blind" lineup where both the investigator and the witness are blind to the identity of the suspect, will not necessarily improve existing procedures. Indeed, studies have generally been inconclusive on the effectiveness of the "double-blind" procedure. However, researchers have criticized field studies that find "double-blind" lineups less or equally effective to normal lineups. They argue that some of these studies are confounded because they do not appropriately control for certain variables. For example, the Illinois field study in 2006 compares the performance of police departments that use both "double-blind" and sequential lineup procedures to departments that do not use either procedure. Other arguments against the proposal of this bill come from members of law enforcement, who say that it would be difficult for police to adjust to new practices if best practices were to change in the future.
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The most important thing I learned from my researching/writing experience this week is that I really should not procrastinate. As I approach the end of the semester, it is really time for me to stay on top of things and be organized. That is why I am planning on printing out all of my annotations, or at least reorganizing them on my computer so that I have a clear view of what information I have and what information I still need to find to write my final paper. I am a bit hesitant on spending even more money (and wasting trees!) printing out physical copies, but I think being able to shuffle notes and pieces of information around will be beneficial to me.
I hope you will continue to read my blog as I complete my annotations and finally, my research paper. Have a wonderful weekend!
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