Police

Via Talkleft, we note that double blind witness lineups are 'comin' to town....

Chicago Tribune

Chicago detectives have begun following new rules for police lineups under a pilot program intended to reduce the chances of their behavior prompting witnesses to identify a particular suspect.

Under the trial guidelines, the police officer showing people or photographs to a witness cannot be an investigator on the case or know which person is the suspect.

Also, witnesses see only one potential suspect at a time instead of choosing from several at once, according to guidelines forwarded to Harrison Area detectives by Chief of Detectives James Malloy.

Former Gov. George Ryan's Commission on Capital Punishment recommended the change in its report on death penalty reform in 2002.

The intent of the new guidelines is to eliminate false identifications of suspects, especially those tainted by police suggesting a certain person, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Whatever one might say about George Ryan (and one could say a lot, mostly in sentences containing the word, corruption), he obviously got the message that reforms in the justice & penal system were long overdue. Kudo's to him, and his Commission on Capital Punishment.