In an editorial today, the Washington Post castigates Congress for continuing to stall passage of the DNA reform bill that was to be the Innocence Protection Act in a former incarnation.

YOU WOULDN'T think that what's left of Sen. Patrick J. Leahy's Innocence Protection Act could spark much controversy. A few years ago, when Mr. Leahy started pushing legislation to encourage post-conviction DNA testing at the state and federal level and improve the woeful quality of counsel in death penalty cases, the measure had real teeth. Now, however, compromise upon compromise has left the Innocence Protection Act, which has been merged with a bipartisan package with President Bush's initiative to reduce the backlog of physical evidence awaiting DNA testing, a shadow of its former self. The House passed the DNA legislation by a lopsided vote, 357 to 67, last year. Yet the Bush administration continues to oppose the Innocence Protection Act, and last week the Senate Judiciary Committee's conservative members, led by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), managed to stall the larger bill of which it is a part, the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act. Though the committee is scheduled to continue marking up that bill today, and though it would clearly command majority support in the full Senate, it is far from clear that the bill will ultimately get to a vote.