It’s surprising how many people go to prison for being convicted of crimes that they didn’t commit. In 2013, 18 people have been imprisoned before DNA testing proved their innocence (CNN). Many people are encouraged to plead guilty to a crime that they didn’t commit to avoid trials, suffering, and money issues. Most people, about 70%, of exonerees are persons of color (CNN). So what’s causing innocent people to serve time that they don’t deserve? There’s many different reasons to explain this problem we have in our justice system. In my opinion, the alarmingly large numbers of wrongful convictions each year are due to racial tensions, problems with DNA analysis, and lastly, false eyewitness confessions.
Many people believe race plays a big …show more content…
Many different things could go wrong while analysing DNA, such as cross-contamination. Ira Flatlow discussed in an interview that “sampling techniques are changing, so the standard for using DNA evidence should be changing, too.” At a crime scene, you could find fibers, hairs, and maybe even blood that has absolutely nothing to do with the crime that was committed. Someone could use things that has a person’s DNA to plant at a crime scene and have them framed. As crazy as it sounds, it happens. Amanda Knox is a good example of this. A knife was contaminated with her DNA, which was used against her in court. Luckily, specialists were able to detect this and have her name cleared (Lowery et al). Another thing about DNA is that it’s not always accurate or completely guaranteed. Matching DNA from a crime scene to the DNA of a suspect doesn’t mean that person is guilty (Harris). We need to take more steps into ensuring that DNA is handled properly so that innocent people don’t have to suffer. Our justice system needs to do a better job of making sure that things aren’t being contaminated, people aren’t being framed, or anything else isn’t going wrong with DNA being used to incarcerate someone. A person’s life is at risk, this issue should be more
Many people believe race plays a big …show more content…
Many different things could go wrong while analysing DNA, such as cross-contamination. Ira Flatlow discussed in an interview that “sampling techniques are changing, so the standard for using DNA evidence should be changing, too.” At a crime scene, you could find fibers, hairs, and maybe even blood that has absolutely nothing to do with the crime that was committed. Someone could use things that has a person’s DNA to plant at a crime scene and have them framed. As crazy as it sounds, it happens. Amanda Knox is a good example of this. A knife was contaminated with her DNA, which was used against her in court. Luckily, specialists were able to detect this and have her name cleared (Lowery et al). Another thing about DNA is that it’s not always accurate or completely guaranteed. Matching DNA from a crime scene to the DNA of a suspect doesn’t mean that person is guilty (Harris). We need to take more steps into ensuring that DNA is handled properly so that innocent people don’t have to suffer. Our justice system needs to do a better job of making sure that things aren’t being contaminated, people aren’t being framed, or anything else isn’t going wrong with DNA being used to incarcerate someone. A person’s life is at risk, this issue should be more