Gregg Easterbrook

Since the late 1990s, DNA tests have revealed that dozens of prisoners—including death row inmates—were wrongly convicted. Many death penalty opponents believe that such DNA exonerations provide proof that capital punishment is a threat to innocents and should be abolished. In the following viewpoint, Gregg Easterbrook argues that more often than not, post-conviction DNA tests confirm an inmate’s guilt. Moreover, the increased use of DNA evidence will actually convince the public that those sentenced to death are truly guilty of murder. Although DNA tests will prevent the execution of some innocents, it will also allay concerns about wrongful applications of the death penalty, the author explains. Easter- brook is a columnist for the New Republic.

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