Kaye appointed to national committee assessing human factors in forensic handwriting analysis

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- David Kaye, Distinguished Professor of Law and associate dean for research at Penn State Law, has been appointed to the Expert Working Group on Human Factors in Handwriting Examination established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

This panel of psychologists, statisticians, document examiners, and lawyers will conduct a scientific assessment on human factors in forensic handwriting comparisons and recommend procedures to reduce the likelihood of errors. It is the second such expert working group that NIST, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has convened to review a field of forensic science.  Kaye was a member of the earlier expert group on fingerprinting and the editor of its report,” Latent Print Examination and Human Factors: Improving the Practice Through a Systems Approach.”

"Forensic scientists are routinely called on to make judgments about similarities and differences between physical objects like fingerprints and handwriting samples,” said Kaye. “The decision process is complex, and, like all human endeavors, is subject to error and uncertainty. Expert groups like this one can assess what is known about the causes of errors and describe best practices for both reducing the incidence of errors and reporting findings to law enforcement agencies and courts as fairly and transparently as possible."

Kaye, who also serves as the Weiss Family Faculty Scholar at Penn State Law, is a member of the Legal Resource Committee of NIST's Organization of Scientific Area Committees and a member of a committee of the National Commission on Forensic Science.