Cases around the country have shown that innocent people have been put in jail, even on death row. Last year, Illinois placed a moratorium on capital punishment because the state freed more innocent death row inmates than it executed. In January, Texas freed a man wrongly convicted of murder and serving a life sentence. Swenson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that people in Oregon have been let go after being proved innocent. But those cases have not involve DNA, yet.
Lawmakers appear to agree.
While the Senate considers its bill, an informal work group in the House is writing a similar measure. Dallas Republican Lane Shetterly is heading that effort. We want to be tough on crime. We want to be tough on criminals. We just want to make sure that the people we're being tough on are the criminals.