The "Common Sense" Right to Take a DNA Test

Now this to me is outrageous:

The solicitor general's office has turned down a request by the Innocence Project to disavow a Bush Administration stance on prisoners' access to DNA evidence in postconviction proceedings. As a result, on March 2, Neal Katyal will make his debut as deputy solicitor general by arguing before the Supreme Court in support of the state of Alaska's view that prisoners have no constitutional right to obtain DNA evidence that might help them prove their innocence -- even if the prisoners pay for the DNA testing themselves. The case is District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne.

The quote above is from “The Blog of Legal Times,” February 20, 2009.

Excuse me? What on earth is going on in our justice system? Glenn Greenwald has posted previously on his blog about the “two-tiered justice system” whereupon the rich have one form of justice and the rest of the country a draconian one. For me, this is a prime example of what he's saying.

DNA testing should not be a "constitutional right." It should be an unequivocal basic right for all people. It's just common sense fairness to do everything we can to make sure that the right people, not the innocent ones, are locked up. If DNA can be used to determine the guilt or innocence of a person, it should be utilized immediately. Without question. No matter when the opportunity to obtain the DNA arises.

Now President Obama's solicitor general’s office is trying to deny those convicted of utilizing DNA to help prove their innocence, picking up where the Bush administration left off.

How can we as a society possibly reject outright the opportunity for a convicted felon to prove his innocence via a DNA test, especially if he’s willing to pay for it. What kind of down side is there? What kind of people are we?

With so many men on death row being proven innocent via DNA, imagine how many convicts not facing the death penalty are innocent.

There is absolutely no reason not to give these men and women the test. Absolutely none.

I posted an earlier blog right after the election that I was reserving judgment on Barack Obama. I believe both the Democratic and Republican parties are cut from the same cloth. Money greases the wheel of both; unfortunately at the expense of the citizenry.

Those who hailed Barack Obama as a messiah should take note of this and other issues he’s siding with the last administration. Like I said, the same cloth…

We definitely need a third, maybe even a fourth party.