Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Austin Likes Railroads

. . . but not railroading people. There is a bill under consideration at the Capitol that stalled in the House after passing through the Senate last term. It has passed the Senate again and if they write it up properly I hope it flies straight through the House to the Governor's desk.

If you are convicted and there is additional DNA evidence you think may exonerate you, you get to have it tested. The results that come back "unknown" get put against the FBI's database of Goblins. No more cases of "gee, we didn't think it was necessary to test the sperm we found inside that victim." Not only does this prove more powerfully the guilt of the guilty, it helps the innocent to walk free. As a side benefit (very small compared to the last two) it also prevents a few millions-of-dollars "oopsy! So sorry for ruining your life by falsely imprisoning you for a decade or two" awards when we find someone actually was innocent after we gave them two execution dates that never quite panned out (or worse, actually killing an innocent person!).

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