The Plain Error Blog at the Innocence Project of Florida just keeps getting better and better. I highly recommend subscribing to the feed.

Plain Error recently posted about DNA test waivers, which basically make federal defendants waive their right to DNA testing if they plead guilty. I really don't understand this, and I will never understand anyone's opposition to DNA testing whenever possible. Pre-trial, post-conviction, post-execution, it doesn't matter. Should the truth not matter more than anything? More than the cost of DNA testing, more that the possibility of the authorities being wrong? I believe DNA testing should be allowed, automatically, for any defendant, convicted felon or death row inmate no matter how long it's been since conviction. We should, first and foremost, be concerned with the rights of human beings, and denying a potentially innocent person the right to prove that innocence is a violation of basic human rights, even if 9 out of every 10 are proven guilty.

During the Bush administration, a policy was passed requiring some federal defendants to abandon their right to DNA testing, mainly those who plead guilty. These waivers deny the defendant DNA testing, a federal right granted to them in the Innocence Protection Act of 2004, even if new evidence emerges.

Prosecutors who use them, including some of the nation’s most prominent U.S. attorneys, say people who have admitted guilt should not be able to file frivolous petitions for testing. They say the wave of DNA exonerations has little impact in federal court because all those found to be innocent were state prisoners, and the waivers apply only to federal charges. DNA evidence is used far more frequently in state courts.

This pretty much undermines the 2004 law, since a majority of federal inmates plea guilty (97%). Prosecutors often present the waiver alongside a plea agreement, and failure to sign the waiver breaks the agreement seeking lighter prison time.

Read more: Justice Department to Review DNA Test Waivers | Innocence Project of Florida

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