In this final episode of the 2025 season of Crime and the Courtroom, host John Collins takes a candid and uncompromising look at a growing challenge within the forensic science community: the accelerating push toward standardization. While standards have long played a vital role in improving consistency and strengthening laboratory management, Collins argues that the pendulum may now be swinging too far. Drawing on decades of experience as a forensic scientist, laboratory director, and professional coach, he examines how overly rigid standardization can unintentionally suppress creativity, erode professional judgment, and undermine the very expertise that forensic science depends on.
Through comparisons to medicine, education, and the history of European integration, Collins explores how well-intentioned standardization efforts in many fields have produced unexpected and sometimes damaging consequences. He also confronts persistent misconceptions about wrongful convictions and challenges the narrative that forensic science is a leading cause of injustice. This episode is both a warning and a call to action: a reminder that while quality systems and accreditation are essential, the soul of forensic science lies in the experts who think, notice, decide, and deliver answers when lives are broken by crime. Whether you are a scientist, attorney, policymaker, or simply someone who cares about justice, this season finale invites you into an honest, overdue conversation about the future of a profession that touches every corner of the criminal justice system.
Season: 5
Episode: 103
Duration: 50:54
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REFERENCED RESOURCES
Innocence Project Report on First 200 Exonerations
The Wrongful Conviction of Forensic Science - By Collins and Jarvis
ABOUT YOUR HOST
John Morrey Collins is a leadership and expertise coach specializing in working with clients in authoritative, high-stakes occupations, but with a primary emphasis on serving leaders, professionals, and organizations that support our complicated systems of criminal and civil justice. John started his private practice, Critical Victories, in 2013 after retiring his award-winning, 20-year career as a forensic laboratory scientist and executive administrator, having served as the Director of Forensic Science for the State of Michigan. His forensic technical expertise was in the examination and testing of firearms and firearm-related evidence, having provided expert courtroom testimony in approximately 130 criminal trials, including death penalty cases and Daubert hearings. John is also the author of three books on forensic science and criminal justice reform. In 2022, he released his fourth book, "The New Superior – A Better Way to Be the One in Charge," which is available in print and audio. John's many career highlights include his part in the forensic investigation of the Atlanta serial bombings, which included the bombing of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, as well as his 2013 participation in a historic meeting with the US Attorney General and other firearm experts to discuss the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. John has a master's degree in organizational management and is formally certified as a Senior HR Professional by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In 2012, John was trained as a professional coach by the College of Executive Coaching, and he became certified as a Gallup Strengths Coach in 2022. He lives and works near Detroit, Michigan.
For more books and other information, please visit www.criticalvictories.com.
