OK, call me cynical if you will, but I am familiar enough with science-on-demand and the vast electoral advantage to Democrats of tapping the felon vote that I think this is a sign that President Obama intends to grant mass pardons after the election and before the inauguration of his successor.  Terry McAuliffe already did it in a critical swing state.  But now there can be a patina of science added to the propaganda mix.  From Ars Technica:

Last year, the US Department of Justice released a report that involved some painful self-examination. The DOJ looked at its own performance when it came to the analysis of hair samples—these were once used to identify potential suspects, but the FBI discontinued that practice in 1996. In looking over past cases, however, the feds discovered that agents had systematically overstated the method's accuracy in court, including at least 35 death penalty cases.

Now, in response to this and other reports on problems with forensic analysis, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has issued an analysis that extends to half a dozen forensic techniques, including fingerprinting. The report finds that all of the techniques have problems when it comes to operating on a firm scientific footing, so PCAST makes strong recommendations for how to get forensic science to take its name seriously.

Wait a minute!  I thought forensics was “settled science.”  Isn’t there a consensus on fingerprints?

OK, I actually believe that science does progress, and all scientific findings are hypotheses that so far have tested out but await further testing.  So my real concern is with the timing and the answer to the classic forensic question: cui bono (“who benefits?”)?.

The Democratic Party is committed to a narrative of black victimization.  Among the most victims supposedly are the unjustly incarcerated black males who populate our prisons in numbers vastly disproportionate to their population share.

So remember fondly the years of comparative peacefulness before the “Ferguson effect” damaged policing, and before mass pardons put back on the street people whose absence has contributed to the tranquility.