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This article discusses the extension of the exclusionary rule, which bars the use of evidence that is said to have been illegally obtained, to the states in the U.S. The exclusionary rule was established in 1914. Some of the beneficiaries of the rule include smugglers, counterfeiters, and others. One case that brought the rule to the state was Mapp. v. Ohio in 1961. Since this case, the rule has been accepted as a cornerstone of jurisprudence. The current effect of the decision in this case prevents evidences from being used in state courts.

The article discusses a reliable technique for fingerprinting porous surfaces. Created by researchers Daniel Mandler and colleagues at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, it keeps nanoparticles from clumping during the fingerprinting process. Fingerprinting techniques involve the use of watery suspensions of gold nanoparticles and silver, as a catalysis, which would often clump.

The article discusses how evidence from U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) special agents are processed and analyzed at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Fort Gillem, Georgia.The forensic evidence from the crime scene initially arrives at the evidence-processing branch for distribution throughout the laboratory to the appropriate evidence branches. It is then processed at the trace evidence branch, the latent print branch, firearms and toolmarks branch depending on what appropriate examinations are needed to be completed.

The author comments on several issues in the U.S. These include a speculation on the 1976 U.S. presidential elections where he foresees Senator Ted Kennedy as the winner, the grave limitations to the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment resulting from a Supreme Court decision that led to the imprisonment of four reporters who refused to disclose sources of information, and how the demise of "Life" magazine presents a great loss to the world. He also comments on narcotics and criminal evidence.

The article focuses on ways to ensure that findings of criminal guilt are genuine. One way for making wrongful convictions less likely is to improve the standard police lineup by letting witnesses see only one purported suspect at a time, rather than all of them at once. The second proposal is to videotape all police interrogations, so that a reliable record exists of the questioning that produced a confession. The article discusses the book "Convicting the Innocent," by Edwin Borchard.