In the past decade, nearly seventy American prisoners, some on death row, have been set free because of solid DNA proof of their innocence. Science has changed everything about how criminal cases are prosecuted.
The celebrity lawyer Barry Scheck and his colleagues have become evangelists for the use of scientific evidence to free the wrongly convicted. They believe DNA testing is to justice what the telescope is to stars.
It's not a lesson in biochemistry, not a display of the wonders of magnifying optical glass, but a way to see things as they really are. Real evidence like fingerprints, blood types, semen, tissue can prove innocence or guilt, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The technology to do so is getting faster and cheaper, but somehow it's not an automatic "Get Out of Jail Free" card. Is rock solid science enough to overturn a conviction?
Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project in this hour. (Hosted by Michael Goldfarb)
