Truth Machine

The Contentious History of DNA Fingerprinting

Michael Lynch, Simon A. Cole, Ruth McNally, and Kathleen Jordan

Michael Lynch, Simon A. Cole, Ruth McNally, and Kathleen Jordan

Cloth $37.50 ISBN: 9780226498065 Published January 2009

Paper $22.50 ISBN: 9780226498072 Published May 2011

E-book $7.00 to $22.50 About E-books ISBN: 9780226498089 Published February 2010

DNA profiling—commonly known as DNA fingerprinting—is often heralded as unassailable criminal evidence, a veritable “truth machine” that can overturn convictions based on eyewitness testimony, confessions, and other forms of forensic evidence. But DNA evidence is far from infallible. Truth Machine traces the controversial history of DNA fingerprinting by looking at court cases in the United States and United Kingdom beginning in the mid-1980s, when the practice was invented, and continuing until the present. Ultimately, Truth Machine presents compelling evidence of the obstacles and opportunities at the intersection of science, technology, sociology, and law.

American Sociological Association: ASA-Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis Distinguished Publication Award
Won

Choice Magazine: CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Awards
Won

View Recent Awards page for more award winning books.

“The Truth Machine addresses a red-hot topic and tells its rich story smartly. The treatment is comprehensive, the research is solid, and the analysis consistently teases out valuable insights from the rich details. The result is an authoritative book that will attract attention from a wide audience, from law to sociology to science.”—Tal Golan, Science Studies, University of California, San Diego

“The Truth Machine is an important book that provides an account of DNA fingerprinting and its evolution. It speaks to a broad audience of researchers and students in criminology, law, history, and sociology, as well as researchers interested in the science itself. I expect this will be a leading book on law and the construction of scientific tools.”—Ron Levi, University of Toronto

"This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of science."—Charalambos P. Kyriacou, Times Higher Education Supplement

"At the heart of Truth Machine lies the fundamental debate about the evaluation of probabilistic risk. The book examines the use of DNA tests in legal proceedings and the development of DNA-profiling methods in the United Kingdom and the United States....Truth Machine is an interesting read — it illustrates that the controversy of DNA profiling is rooted not in the science, but mainly in the restrictions of the adversarial system."—Peter Gill, Nature

2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

"It presents vital information for those in the legal professions who need to understand opposing attorneys' arguments in both criminal and civil cases involving DNA. . . . Laypersons interested in crime and DNA will find it interesting."

"Every scholar interested in science and law will find much of value in Truth Machine. It is a sophisticated book that does not easily fit standard courses, although it could be used for advanced seminars that explore the intersection of law and science. . . . Teachers of criminal law who wish to gain a sophisticated understanding of DNA as evidence will find the book extremely valuable."—Marvin Zalman, Law and Politics Book Review

"[The book] could potentially serve as a useful text for students studying the fields of Science and Technology Studies or for those interested in pursuing careers in forensic law."

"The book reminds us that the processes of making truth and power are usually not such that science drives policy, or law drives practices; but rather science, law, policies. and practices mutually constitute each other. . . . This book is an illustration of how much we can learn when this interaction is taken seriously."

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1.     A Revolution in Forensic Science?
                     Interlude A.   DNA Profiling Techniques
Chapter 2.     A Techno-Legal Controversy
                     Interlude B.   Admissibility, Controversy, and Judicial Metascience
Chapter 3.     Molecular Biology and the Dispersion of Technique
Chapter 4.     Chains of Custody and Administrative Objectivity
                     Interlude C: The U.K. National DNA Database
Chapter 5.     Deconstructing Probability in the Case R. v. Deen
                     Interlude D.   Bayesians, Frequentists, and the DNA Database Search Controversy
Chapter 6.     Science, Common Sense, and DNA Evidence
Chapter 7.     Fixing Controversy, Performing Closure
Chapter 8.     Postclosure
                     Interlude E.    Fingerprinting and Probability
Chapter 9.     Fingerprinting: An Inversion of Credibility
Chapter 1.     Finality?

Cases
References
Index

For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu

Biological Sciences: Microbiology

History: History of Technology

History of Science

Law and Legal Studies: Law and Society | Legal History

Medical Science

Sociology: Criminology, Delinquency, Social Control | Individual, State and Society

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