Justice Demands Post-Conviction DNA Testing

Ronald Bailey | December 15, 2005

The Washington Post has another story in which two men convicted of a crime have been exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing:

Newly tested DNA from rapes committed more than 20 years ago has exonerated two Virginians who had each spent more than a decade behind bars, reigniting a national debate about post-conviction testing of biological evidence.

Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) announced the test results Wednesday. One of the defendants served 20 years in prison for a rape in Alexandria that the new testing shows he did not commit. The other man was released in 1992 after serving about 11 years for an assault in Norfolk. The governor did not reveal the names of the exonerated men because they had requested privacy. He said he would expedite their pardon requests.

Reason has long been in favor of expeditious post-conviction DNA testing. If there is biological evidence that could exonerate a prisoner, it should be tested period. And state legislatures and Congress should supply the tax monies needed to do it as fast as possible. If government is not about rendering justice, what the hell else is it about?