On Feb. 16 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, ProPublica and the Las Vegas Review-Journal are co-hosting a public forum to discuss the criminal justice system’s use of drug kits known to produce false positives.

This free event is based on a recent ProPublica investigation about how the kits, known as chemical field tests, are used to jail thousands of people in Las Vegas annually – years after the city’s police crime lab flagged them for producing false positives. The forum will feature voices from the front lines of this issue, including:

• Judge Joe Bonaventure, Chief Judge of the Las Vegas Justice Court

• Laurie Diefenbach, Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice committee member

• Amy Albritton, victim of a wrongful conviction in Houston, Tex., where the tests are also used

• Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica reporter (moderator)

Chemical field tests are commonly performed during traffic and pedestrian stops by placing a small sample of a suspected drug in a pouch. If the chemicals turn a specific color, illegal substances may be present. In his investigation, Gabrielson uncovered that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department crime lab has for years known the shortcomings of chemical field tests – the likelihood that they produced false positives, as well as the need to abandon them. Yet they remain in wide use.

For more information on this event, contact Cynthia Gordy at cynthia.gordy@propublica.org or 917-703-1242.