The Justice for All Act was introduced by the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA). The bill, which was unanimously approved by the House Judiciary Committee on September 22, 2004, passed on the House floor in a 393-14 vote on October 6, 2004. The bill will now move to the Senate for consideration.

Now the reality. Here's how the DNA money is divided up:

• $755 million goes to test the backlog of over 300,000 rape kits and other crime scene evidence awaiting analysis in our nation's crime labs;

• 500 million goes to ...programs to improve the capacity of crime labs to conduct DNA analysis, reduce non-DNA backlogs, train examiners, support sexual assault forensic examiner programs, and promote the use of DNA to identify missing persons;

• 25 million over five years is authorized to help states pay the costs of post-conviction DNA testing;

As for improving the quality of death penalty representation, the bill authorizes $ 100 75 million a year for five years to be split between states offering training programs to defenders and prosecutors, and providing assistance to families of murder victims. See Sections 421 to 423.

The bill provides an increase in maximum compensation to federal prisoners who were wrongfully convicted. The new rate is $50,000 per year in non-capital cases and $100,000 per year in capital cases.

As to those convicted in state court, here's what it says:

Section 432. Sense of Congress Regarding Compensation in State Death Penalty Cases
This section states that it is the sense of Congress that states should provide compensation to those persons who are wrongfully convicted.

You can read a section by section analysis of the bill here.