DNA Has Freed Another Innocent Man

Yet another innocent man has sat behind the gritty prison walls, anxiously awaiting his freedom. How many more guiltless men and women, must suffer the lost of precious years of their lives before they are found to be innocent of a crime that they have repetitively cried out their innocence? I can only imagine how Kenneth Ireland and James Calvin Tillman felt as they walked through the doors of freedom, into a world that they probably thought they would never see again. Locking up innocent men and women has become a detriment to society. The erroneous behavior of incarcerating innocent people has become a tragedy for both the falsely accused and their families. There is no excuse for such behavior, especially with the new world of advance DNA technology.

Advanced DNA technology makes is possible to prove the innocence of wrongfully convicted individuals. These individuals can be exonerated through advanced DNA technology such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Through the use of PCR, cases that originally resulted in test results coming back as being inconclusive can more than likely be proven to be conclusive. Although DNA testing is available, it is currently used on a case-by-case basis.

Too many innocent individuals have been placed behind bars, with no hope of ever being released. Our tax dollars are being spent on incarcerating individuals who have not committed a crime, pleading their innocence from the very beginning of their trial. These same tax dollars could be going towards other avenues that will better enrich our economy. It is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $32 billion dollars a year to operate and run prisons. Each year that an innocent individual sits behind the walls of their State DOC (Department of Corrections) it is costing taxpayers approximately $38,700. More money is being spent on keeping innocent individuals incarcerated, than it is on educating our children. There is something definitely wrong with this picture.

Normal individuals like you and I, are being taken away from their families and thrown into prison for years, without just cause. Some have even been given the "death penalty," barely escaping execution. The criminal justice system has tremendously failed these people and something must be done about it. Innocent people cannot continuously be wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit and our tax dollars should not be foolishly used in aiding such unjust and wrongful behavior.

Thank God for organizations such as the "Innocence Project." They investigate cases for individuals who have been wrongfully convicted of committing a crime. It takes months, if not years to investigate such cases however; their efforts have not been in vain. They have succeeded to this day, the successful exoneration of over 200 innocent individuals, using advanced DNA technology. We must all work together to reform the unfair actions of the criminal justice system, continuously fight to stop those who are wrongfully convicted and endlessly stand for justice to free the innocent.