by TChris

Pennsylvania state senator Stewart Greenleaf recognizes that a "tough on crime" legislature should also be a "let's get it right" legislature. "If if we're going to have tough sentences," he says, "then we also have to make sure we're not going to convict innocent people." Good idea.

A partial step toward that goal is his proposed Innocence Commission Act. A Commission of "prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, corrections officials, police, victim advocates and others" would review cases in which DNA exonerated the wrongly convicted and "suggest changes to state laws, court procedures or police practices that might cut the error rate." Some suggestions, right off the bat:

The state could require police interrogations to be taped, improve independent oversight of crime labs or further streamline access to post-conviction DNA testing. State courts could let experts testify about how eyewitnesses can be wrong.