21,000 Reasons Scalia Was Right

In an intriguing way, this week’s decision by Massachusetts prosecutors to vacate some 21,000 drug convictions represents a vindication of Justice Antonin Scalia. The astonishing move is fallout from the mess created by Annie Dookhan, a chemist who in 2013 pleaded guilty to 27 counts of tampering with evidence, filing false reports and misleading investigators. In particular, she admitted faking test results used by prosecutors against individuals who have become known as the Dookhan defendants.

In the seven counties that used the Hinton State Laboratory, where Dookhan worked, one in four drug convictions over a 10-year period relied on her work. She was, as they say, a big deal. So swiftly did Dookhan work that her colleagues called her Superwoman. They never suspected that she was winning by cheating.