By a vote of 357 – 67, the U.S. House of Representatives passed leg­is­la­tion des­ig­nat­ing $25 mil­lion in fund­ing over five years for DNA test­ing that could help prove the inno­cence of some death row inmates. The bill also pro­vides fund­ing for states to improve the qual­i­ty of legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion for those fac­ing cap­i­tal charges. The bipar­ti­san-sup­port­ed bill, enti­tled The Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003 (H.R. 3214), includes a com­pre­hen­sive pack­age of pro­grams that pro­vides over $1 bil­lion over the next five years to assist Federal and State author­i­ties in solv­ing crimes and pro­tect­ing the inno­cent. The U.S. Senate is con­sid­er­ing a sim­i­lar mea­sure. (Associated Press, November 5, 2003) See Innocence.

Citation Guide