Joint Statement On The Innocence Protection Act

The Innocence Protection Act pledge to press forward with the bill in the new 108th Congress -

Joint Statement by
Senators Patrick Leahy, Gordon Smith and Susan Collins, and
Congressmen Bill Delahunt and Ray LaHood
THE INNOCENCE PROTECTION ACT

February 4, 2003

Three years ago, we joined together to introduce the Innocence Protection Act, a balanced, bipartisan package of sensible criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing the risk that innocent persons may be executed-and ensuring that inmates who have been wrongfully convicted have access to the evidence that can establish their innocence.

The bill would achieve these goals in two principal ways: first, by ensuring that eligible inmates are not denied access to DNA testing that can establish their innocence; and second, by helping states improve the quality of legal representation in capital cases so that fewer defendants are wrongfully convicted in the first place.

This legislation gained enormous momentum during the last Congress, with 32 Senators and 250 Representatives-well over half the House-signed on in support. Hearings were held in each House, and a version of the bill was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in July.

Many of the bill's cosponsors are supporters of the death penalty. Many others oppose it. But all are united in the belief that a just society cannot condone the execution or wrongful incarceration of the innocent.

An unending stream of exonerations of innocent persons, many of whom had spent years on death row, has continued to highlight the urgent importance of the Innocence Protection Act. We pledge to continue to work toward a bipartisan consensus that will enable this lifesaving measure to be signed into law this year.