May 19 2009

Why Can’t Convicted Felons Access DNA Testing?

Published by at 12:00 pm under All General Discussions

This makes no damn sense:

In an age of advanced forensic science, the first step toward ending Kenneth Reed’s prolonged series of legal appeals should be simple and quick: a DNA test, for which he has offered to pay, on evidence from the 1991 rape of which he was convicted.

The laws were enacted after DNA evidence exonerated a first wave of prisoners in the early 1990s, when law enforcement authorities strongly resisted reopening old cases. Continued resistance by prosecutors is causing years of delay and, in some cases, eliminating the chance to try other suspects because the statute of limitations has passed by the time the test is granted.

Look, our legal system is the best in the world, yet it is not fool proof. To make it even better is to allow science to remove juror bias, counsel ineptitude and other imperfections from the system as much as possible. Resistance to correcting wrongs is not justice, it is simply CYA on the part of some people who don’t want to admit they may have made a grave mistake. Justice should be blind – even to its officers and their short comings.

2 responses so far

2 Responses to “Why Can’t Convicted Felons Access DNA Testing?”

  1. MerlinOS2 says:

    Have you ever priced a full DNA test and then multiply that by the number of people in prison.

    If you kept it down to capital crimes and rape it would still be a very expensive concept.

  2. AJStrata says:

    Justice should not be rationed because of costs Merlin.