This is pathetic. First, the Innocence Protection Act, which TalkLeft and others lobbied mightily for, was gutted to a shadow of its former self and renamed the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act. It passed the House 357 to 67 last November.

The bill got stalled in the Senate yesterday by Republicans objecting to the Innocence Protection Act provisions contained in the Act--despite the fact that victims, as well as innocence advocates, have been pushing hard for passage. The innocence provisions would allow inmates to obtain DNA testing to challenge their convictions and grant compensation to those inmates who prove they were factually innocent and wrongfully convicted. Currently, 151 inmates have been exonerated of the crimes of which they were convicted through DNA testing.

The bill in its current form provides far more benefits to crime victims than to wrongfully convicted inmates. Here's the disparity: $755 million is going to DNA testing of old rape kits in hopes of finding the perpetrator through a DNA databank, while only $25 million is allotted for the DNA testing of inmates with colorable factual innocence claims.

And yet, there are still objections to the bill. Shameful. As Senator Patrick Leahy said yesterday:

"Every day that the bill is stalled is another day that rape kits go untested for lack of funds; another day that inmates with colorable claims of innocence are denied access to the DNA evidence that could set them free and put the real criminals behind bars."

How tough is it to understand that DNA protects the innocent and identifies the guilty. if the wrong person is in jail, the real perpetrator is still out there, quite capable of striking again.