March 16, 2010 11:06AM 

# Bad Science and Capital Punishment 

By [David Rittgers](https://www.cato.org/people/david-rittgers) 

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[Radley Balko](https://www.cato.org/people/radley-balko) will be moderating a [panel](http://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/releases/march.23.2010.html) at Georgetown Law next week, “Bad Science: The Execution of Cameron Todd Willingham and the Case for Forensic Reform.”

Radley will be leading a discussion about the case of Willingham, who was executed by the state of Texas in 2004. Willingham was convicted in 1992 of murdering his three young daughters in a house fire that the state determined was arson.

A report issued in 2009 claimed that in convicting Willingham, the state used techniques and assumptions that were no longer recognized as scientifically valid and that the original finding of arson could not be sustained.

If you can’t attend in person, a [webcast](http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/index.cfm) will be available.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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