[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_HR0606
LRB9211594BDdv
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The United States Department of Justice has
3 abandoned plans to offer federal grants to pay for DNA
4 testing of some inmates so that prosecutors could verify
5 those inmates' convictions; and
6 WHEREAS, A primary function of the United States
7 Department of Justice is to ensure the fair and impartial
8 administration of justice for all Americans; and
9 WHEREAS, A person who has been convicted of a crime that
10 he or she did not commit has not received the fair
11 administration of justice; in a society built around the
12 ideal of justice for all citizens, innocent people should not
13 suffer captivity or execution; and
14 WHEREAS, Over the past decade, deoxyribonucleic acid
15 (DNA) testing has emerged as one of the most reliable
16 forensic techniques for identifying criminals when biological
17 material is left at the crime scene; and
18 WHEREAS, Because of its scientific precision, DNA testing
19 can, in many cases, conclusively establish the guilt or
20 innocence of a criminal defendant; and
21 WHEREAS, According to DNA testing advocates, since the
22 late 1980s, DNA testing has cast doubt on 99 convictions,
23 including at least 11 that carried the death penalty; and
24 WHEREAS, If evidence is not subjected to DNA testing in
25 appropriate cases, there is a significant risk that
26 persuasive evidence of innocence will go undetected and,
27 consequently, innocent persons will be incarcerated or even
28 executed; therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
30 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
-2- LRB9211594BDdv
1 we urge the United States Department of Justice to offer
2 federal grants for DNA testing for incarcerated individuals;
3 and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
5 presented to the President of the United States, George W.
6 Bush, the United States Attorney General, John Ashcroft, and
7 to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.