DNA at the Supreme Court

The Washington Post reports that the US Supreme Court is considering review of a critical DNA issue -- whether one has a constitutional right to have DNA tested.

Osborne was convicted, spent more than a decade in prison and gave a detailed confession to a parole board. But after recanting that confession, the Alaska man won a federal lawsuit seeking new DNA tests he now says can clear him, a judgment that was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It is the first time an appellate court has ruled that an inmate has a federal constitutional right to such testing.

Now, the government has sought cert, wanting to deny DNA testing as a constitutional right. This may have caught media attention just because of the Palin/Alaska hook, but this is a rather fundamental question of fairness and integrity. It is hard to imagine why anyone, even prosecutors, would object to such testing if there is the possibility of exoneration of an innocent person. But never underestimate the government's wrong-headed reasoning.
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