Tuesday, January 03, 2006

DNA EVIDENCE AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Remember Barry Scheck? He was OJ’s DNA expert and he runs this organization called the INNOCENTS PROJECT.

DNA testing has been a major factor in changing the criminal justice system. It has provided scientific proof that our system convicts and sentences innocent people -- and that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events. Most importantly, DNA testing has opened a window into wrongful convictions so that we may study the causes and propose remedies that may minimize the chances that more innocent people are convicted.

It’s a worthy idea to get innocent people freed. States should offer to fund DNA testing on all of their death row inmates with the agreement that if a convict’s DNA does match they will forego any further appeals and make ready to be executed within 10 days. It would be using science like the NFL uses the instant replay. The results would trump all else.

2 comments:

E said...

That makes too much sense - it will never work!

Dude said...

I like that concept, Tom. Save money in the end if every case up for appeal in which there is DNA evidence strikes this bargain. Of course, then you get defendent arguments that the testing is flawed.

There has never been a question that there are innocent men in jail and on death row and even strapped to the chair. The vast majority of these characters were guilty of something though for a jury to believe them capable of the particular crime for which they were accused. It rarely is the Hitchcockian wrong man, who is otherwise upstanding who gets fingered for a heinous crime. Live properly and the law's got no business with you.

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