Editorial: South Carolina needs a DNA access law

The first sentence of an editorial in today’s issue of the Herald, a South Carolina newspaper, makes plain the critical need for a new policy:

If a DNA test can free an innocent person from prison, the state should provide a path for inmates to request a test. 

The editorial goes on to lay out the details of a bill in the state’s Senate that would provide access to DNA testing for inmates when the evidence could overturn a wrongful conviction. South Carolina is one of just seven states in the U.S. with no law providing access to testing, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck testified in South Carolina in support of the bill last month.

"Simply put, nobody wins when an innocent person is convicted," Scheck said. "Not the victims, the police, the prosecutors, the courts or the public."

Read the full editorial here

. (The Rock Hill Herald, 04/01/08, Free Registration Required)

Read more coverage of the South Carolina bill here

. (The State, 03/30/08)

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