POST: "How many more are innocent?" by Radley Balko, published by Reason on February 08, 2014; (Radley Balko is a senior editor at Reason magazine.)
SUB-HEADING: "America's 250th DNA exoneration raises questions about how often we send the wrong person to prison."
GIST: "Whatever the percentage, DNA testing has exposed some gaping
flaws in the system, calling into question traditional assumptions
on the value of eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence,
confessions, and the appeals process. (In several
cases in which a defendant was later exonerated by DNA testing,
appeals courts not only upheld convictions, but noted the
"overwhelming evidence" of the defendants' guilt.) Scalia stated in
Marsh that an exoneration "demonstrates not the failure of
the system but its success," but it would be naive to believe the
same systemic flaws exposed by these exonerations in the small
subset of cases for which DNA testing is available don't also exist
in the much larger pool of non-DNA cases. Put another way, if we
now know because of DNA testing that misconduct by police and
prosecutors produced a wrongful conviction in a high-profile murder
case, it's probably safe to assume that the same problems led to
the wrongful conviction of a number of routine drug suspects over
the years, too. The difference is that there's no test to clear
those people's names. So these 250 DNA exonerations aren't proof that the system is
working. They're a wake-up call that it isn't. Instead of falling
back on groups like the Innocence Project to serve as unofficial
checks against wrongful convictions, lawmakers, judges, and law
enforcement officials should be looking at why there's so much work
for these organizations in the first place."
The entire post can be found at:
http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/08/how-many-more-are-innocent
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
