The Innocence Project is a foundation that aims to exonerate prisoners who can be proven innocent through the methods of DNA testing. In the past years, DNA testing has been crucial in deciphering between criminals and the wrongfully convicted, and has taken bounds and leaps in the direction of creating a more 'just' justice system. More reliable than eye-witness accounts and interrogation methods, DNA testing utilizes pieces of DNA discovered at a crime scene to provide evidence determining guilty/non-guilty suspects. One case, in which four teenage boys were convicted of raping and killing Lori Roscetti in Chicago (1986), shows how DNA testing can be the tool of freedom for those who were wrongfully convicted. The four teenage boys, natives of Chicago, were wrongfully convicted of a crime they did not commit, and due to pressure from the public and fraudulent test results, were sentenced to time in prison. Thanks to DNA collected from the Roscetti scene and the intervention of the Innocence Project, the boys were able to walk free, while the real convicted felons responsible for the murder were sentenced to life in prison. This is just one of the many ways DNA has helped freed prisoners that are falsely at blame.
When we were first asked to respond to the exoneration stories we listened to in class and the idea of the Innocence Project, I was slightly taken back by what I had heard. I had never given much thought to the happenings of the US justice system, but after listening to these stories my perception was greatly altered. Although these stories did not impact me to the point where I was genuinely angry and upset with law and court officials, I began to see how there are small holes in our society's justice system that can have huge impacts on the lives of others. Hearing about the four teenage boys that had 15 years of their life taken away from them and seeing how tactics used by officers can impact the thought process of suspects showed me that there are still areas within our system that greatly need improvement, but I could see how we are already making progress. With DNA testing and foundations like the Innocence project, I can already tell that citizens have taken action, and although some men may forever stay behind bars, we can work our hardest and try our best to make sure that we can free those that are wrongfully convicted.
