Science has provided the criminal justice system with a means of definitively answering questions of guilt or innocence without relying on eyewitness testimony or circumstantial evidence. Since the taking of a life is the supreme expression of a state's power over its citizens, that power should not be used without offering the accused every possible opportunity to present evidence that may keep the state out of the unimaginable position of executing innocent people. The installation of standardized procedures to use DNA and similar evidence in capital cases will also decrease the possibility that innocent people will end up on death row in the future. In the past few years, there have been great scientific advances in DNA and forensic evidence testing.
New technologies are available that can explore evidence that was previously unusable.
However, many of the inmates currently sitting on death row have not had access to these scientific advances when presenting their case to the courts. This leads to a situation where innocent people are unable to adequately address their legal problems with definitive evidence of innocence. This issue has been most clearly represented in Illinois, a state that has executed 12 people since it reinstated the death penalty. During that same time, however, Illinois has had to release 13 people who were wrongfully convicted of capital crimes. This situation has led Republican Illinois Governor George Ryan to put a moratorium on all executions until a panel could review the capital conviction process in the state.