In a 5-4 decision today the Supreme Court of the United States made one of the worst rulings in history.
“DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty,” the majority conceded, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “The availability of new DNA testing, however, cannot mean that every criminal conviction, or even every conviction involving biological evidence, is suddenly in doubt.”
How wrong can one Justice be? Of course every criminal conviction involving biological evidence could be in doubt — and is in doubt. We should not be surprised that along with Roberts were Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito. The split decision is proof that some, in this case the majority, on the Supreme Court would prefer to see innocent men and women in jail, possibly facing the death penalty, rather than look for the truth.
Our system of justice is flawed and has been for years. While we talk of being judged by a jury of peers, there is more to justice than having 12 or so men and women sitting in the jury box. A defendant should have the right to all means available to prove one’s innocence.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said it best, “This is a court of laws, young man, not a court of justice.” Today the Supreme Court upheld this sad statement as fact.
Peter Neufeld, co-founder of The Innocence Project, was disappointed by the ruling. As we know The Innocence Project has freed many on death row by DNA proof that was not available at the time of trial.
The five Justices who have no compassion for the innocent man or woman fear that the court system will be overrun with cases if the DNA testing is allowed. So, to try to refrain from creating a further backlog of criminal cases, the Justices have basically determined that innocent lives are not that important once incarcerated. These are the same Justices who put so much value on the unborn child and oppose abortions.
Today’s ruling seems to indicate that before birth everyone is entitled to life, yet once you arrive in this world your life loses value. Additionally, today’s ruling flies in the face of finding the truth and supports the notion that a man convicted has no right to continue to fight to prove his innocence or to legal remedies afforded some.
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