Barry Scheck Talks DNA Testing, Wrongful Convictions, Criminal Justice System with Big Think

09.07.10

Last month, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck was interviewed by global forum Big Think about the advancement of DNA testing and how it assists overturning wrongful convictions.  Scheck also discussed how the Innocence Project selects its cases, the unreliability of eyewitness identification and flaws that are plaguing the criminal justice system.

In the interview, Scheck discusses the relevance of DNA testing to both forensic science and the criminal justice system, and the impact it has had on the public’s perception of wrongful convictions.

What happened since the Innocence Project really went into business in 1992 is really a movement, a civil rights movement, an innocence movement that is really transformed the way that the criminal justice system looks at error and looks at the interrelationship of science and results.  And the one thing we know, because of post-conviction DNA tests is that there are far more innocent people than anybody ever really believed.



We who work within the criminal justice system where the life and liberty of the people are at stake have to have some humility.  That’s really what these DNA exonerations are teaching us.

Watch below as Scheck discusses reforms sparked by exonerations, and

watch the full 30-minute interview here

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