by David Kaczynski
The headline in Saturday’s TU read – Panel: Expand Use of DNA. The “panel” mentioned is a statewide task force under the direction of the state’s Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman that has studied the causes of wrongful convictions in New York and made recommendations to address what has become a serious problem. (The panel documented 53 cases of innocent people who were convicted of serious crimes including rape and murder and later exonerated on the basis of DNA or other compelling evidence.)
The headline’s focus on DNA failed to capture the breadth of the panel’s recommendations, which included measures to address the two prime factors that are known to contribute to wrongful convictions: mistaken eyewitness identifications and coerced false confessions.
The report did not mince words in describing the immense cost of a wrongful conviction: “Nothing is more damaging to the pursuit of justice than the conviction of an innocent person…Every wrongful conviction is a double injustice that punishes the innocent and allows the guilty to go free, and an ugly stain on the reputation of the courts, chipping away at our legitimacy in the public eye.” It’s high time that we begin to address this problem seriously after years of denial and complacence. Let us hope that our state legislators are paying heed.
via Take Care with DNA – David Kaczynski – timesunion.com – Albany NY.
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