NYTimes Article:
Convicts do not have a right under the Constitution to obtain DNA testing to try to prove their innocence after being found guilty, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.
Chief Justice Roberts:
“DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty. The availability of new DNA testing, however, cannot mean that every criminal conviction, or even every conviction involving biological evidence, is suddenly in doubt.”
Justice John Paul Steven in dissent:
“The DNA test Osborne seeks is a simple one, its cost modest, and its results uniquely precise,” Justice Stevens said.
Martin’s Commentary: I think this shows just why we need Supreme Court justices that have real world experiences. Roberts thinks the courts don’t have a responsibility to make sure justice was carried out. A DNA test costs a few hundred dollars. It would be far cheaper to allow the test than to clock hundreds of hours of lawyers fees and Supreme Court time.
Just reading the story about William G. Osborne makes me doubt his innocent but why not inmates in his position the chance to definitively prove one way or another? Forty-six states have given defendants the right to DNA tests so today’s rulings only affect the four remaining states. The Times speculates that this factored into the decision, that the Court decided it didn’t have to intervene because 92% of state legislatures had decided on issue. But if so many states have indeed decided this is a right, that just seems like the mandate for the Supreme Court to acknowledge it.
Yes, Justice Roberts, DNA wasn’t mentioned in the Constitution, you’re certainly right about that. But the drafters of that document were practical men and wouldn’t have denied cheap and easy justice on pedantic grounds. A little more common sense and a little less States Right’ism would be refreshing.
In the meantime, those of you in Alaska, Alabama, Massachusetts and Oklahoma should start petitioning your legislators ASAP to make Justice Robert’s decision moot.
