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Nothing, not even an archly conservative Supreme Court, can stop DNA testing from continuing to revolutionize the American criminal justice system. In our lifetime—within the next decade perhaps—pre-trial DNA testing will be as routine a part of trials as fingerprints and orange jumpsuits are now. To deny this, or to try to delay it, isn’t just a fool’s errand it’s entirely counterproductive to the goal of accuracy under the law.

So let’s put Thursday’s DNA ruling into context. Yes, it’s true. A sharply-divided Court refused to recognize a constitutional right to DNA testing following a conviction. “Swing” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy swung this time with his conservative brethren and Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., aiming low as always when it comes to the rights of criminal defendants, declared that:


"DNA testing alone does not always resolve a case…The availability of technologies not available at trial cannot mean that every criminal conviction, or even every criminal conviction involving biological evidence,is suddenly in doubt. The dilemma is how to harness DNA’s power to prove innocence without unnecessarily overthrowing the established system of criminal justice."

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