Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last week, I called on members of the Senate to come together and support reauthorization of the Justice for All Act, a bipartisan law that increased resources devoted to DNA and other forensic technology, established safeguards to prevent wrongful convictions, and enhanced protections for crime victims. The bipartisan bill to reauthorize this historic law was reported unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee last fall. Every Senate Democrat has cleared the way for passage of this important measure, and I hope Senate Republicans will soon follow suit so that we can take one step closer to reauthorizing this law that protects and supports victims of crime. The programs created by the Justice for All Act have had an enormous impact, and it is crucial that we reauthorize them. The legislation strengthens important rights for crime victims, reauthorizes the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, seeks to improve the quality of indigent defense, and increases access to post-conviction DNA testing to help protect the innocent. The reauthorization legislation also strengthens the Kirk Bloodsworth Post Conviction DNA Testing Grant Program. Kirk Bloodsworth was the first person in the United States to be exonerated from a death row crime through the use of DNA evidence. The program named for Mr. Bloodsworth provides grants to States for testing in those criminal cases like Mr.…”