A Prisoner’s Right to Access DNA Evidence to Prove His Innocence: Post-Osborne Options

Authors

Kristen McIntyre

Publication Date

7-1-2011

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

Despite advances in DNA technology and the ability, for the first time, to prove almost conclusively the guilt or innocence of a defendant, the Supreme Court recently held that access to DNA testing is constitutionally irrelevant. In District Attorney's Office v. Osborne, the Supreme Court held that there is no independent Constitutional right to post-conviction DNA testing under the Fourteenth Amendment. Instead, the Court held that it must be left up to the States to enact post-conviction relief statutes. This Note posits that the Court must acknowledge the inevitable changes that modern DNA testing presents to the court system and lead the way in creating fitting policy that ensures all prisoners are able to access evidence to prove their innocence. It will argue that the protections afforded to individuals under the Constitution of the United States must be analyzed in light of modern society and its capabilities. Nothing is more fundamental to the Constitution than the protection of individual liberty so our system of jurisprudence must be flexible enough to incorporate scientific advances that will allow the Court to better safeguard this important right. Lastly, it will argue that for the following reasons, the most likely means of accomplishing the recognition of this right is through the substantive due process doctrine.

DOI

10.37419/TWLR.V17.I4.6

First Page

565

Last Page

591

Recommended Citation

Kristen McIntyre, A Prisoner’s Right to Access DNA Evidence to Prove His Innocence: Post-Osborne Options, 17 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 565 (2011).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/TWLR.V17.I4.6