DNA EXONERATIONS

DNA Exonerations

DNA Exonerations

Introduction

When available and properly utilized, DNA is a powerful component of the forensic science and criminal justice systems; it can link seemingly unrelated crimes, resolve cold cases, track violent offenders both in and out of the penal system, solve crimes which would have been previously unsolvable, and prevent innocent people from going to prison. Currently, DNA is also being used to exonerate the innocent. Many people who were convicted of violent crimes and sentenced to lengthy periods in prison have continuously stated their innocence. DNA technology now makes it possible, in some cases, to prove or disprove their claims.

Discussion

DNA comprises four key enzymes and basis of chemical produce that connect and mould, thereby aiding to define a specimen's DNA: thymine (T), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and lastly adenine (A). These nitrogen bases mentioned above combine into pairs of two-guanine bonding only with cytosine and adenine bonding only with thymine-to form valuable compositions of the human index. Adenine and guanine are heterocyclic compositions comprising five to six types of each, more compactly labeled as purines, while the remaining are six-member rings called pyrimidines.

The bases, along with a phosphate and a sugar strand, combine together to form strands and layers of substances called nucleotide. Nucleotides, more formally termed as the double helix. This stock of chemicals comprises valuable information that will help us generate and become beings that we may be in the future. DNA analysis was first proposed in 1985 by the English scientist Alec J. Jeffreys. By the late 1980s, it was being performed by law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and by commercial laboratories (Gans & Urbas, 2002). It consists of comparing selected segments of DNA molecules from different individuals. Because a DNA molecule is made up of billions of segments, only a small proportion of an individual's entire genetic code is analyzed.At present, there are more than 30 Innocence Projects headquartered at law and journalism schools across the United States, the goals of which are to overturn cases based on the introduction of compelling new evidence (frequently DNA-related). Attorney Barry Scheck started the first Innocence Project in New York in 1992; his goal was to be "the last word" for impoverished clients who maintained their innocence but had run out of other legal options. As of early 2005, nearly 160 people have been exonerated by the work of these groups. In addition to their goal of exonerating the wrongfully convicted, the Innocence Project is working to require states to pass legislation mandating that case evidence be preserved, and DNA testing be made readily available to those accused of crimes.

A parallel project was commissioned by the National Institutes of Justice and carried out by the Institute for Law and Justice in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1995. This project involved the study of cases in which post-conviction DNA analysis led to exoneration, as well as an in-depth investigation of DNA laboratories and testing processes. In her commentary on the release of the original report in 1996, former United States Attorney ...