I don't know that the particular result here really matters. Of course there's going to be cases in which people have claimed to be innocent and that DNA testing ... will tend to disprove that _ that should be expected. But I think we also know that there are going to be cases where the claim of innocence is supported. |
It seems to be increasingly clear that there really is no political risk to take these concerns about innocence seriously. |
The governor is to be commended for doing that. In the past the tendency among governors and legislators has been basically to say this is a judicial responsibility. It really is everyone's responsibility. |
When is it just to punish, or not? There are some cases where a person was so mentally disturbed at the time of the offense that it would be inhumane and morally objectionable to convict and punish them. |
When the law makes the offense simply a biological fact, of simply having a certain chemical in one's body, that steps over a line in the law that has been traditionally accepted. |