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How DNA Evidence Has Changed The World Of Criminal Justice

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DNA evidence has changed the world of criminal justice and has completely changed the way we take evidence from crime scenes. Before DNA we couldn't take things from a crime scene such as blood, fingerprints, hair, fingernails, or dead skin, and link them to someone and place people at a crime scene. DNA evidence was the reason we were able to reopen so many cold cases and solve them and bring victims justice decades after the crime was originally committed.
DNA evidence was first introduced in 1985 by British scientist Alec Jeffreys. DNA evidence is the genetic material that is collected from a crime scene or a person and analyzed to identify the source of the DNA. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a unique genetic code found in all living …show more content…

It has become a powerful tool in the criminal justice system, it provides conclusive evidence that can link a suspect to a crime, help free individuals who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes, and identify victims of crimes who are deceased. DNA evidence is analyzed through a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) this method allows for the smallest specks of any type of DNA. (Staff)
In the criminal justice system, there are many ways that DNA evidence is used in we use it to Identify suspects, DNA evidence collected from a crime scene is sent off and compared to DNA samples collected from suspects or from a DNA database. To determine if a suspect's DNA matches the DNA found at the crime scene. In many cases, post-conviction DNA testing has revealed that the DNA found at the crime scene did not match the DNA of the individual who was convicted. We use DNA to link crimes, DNA evidence can link crimes that were previously thought to be unrelated by identifying the same perpetrator through matching DNA profiles found at multiple crime scenes. Like we identify suspects we can also Identify victims, DNA evidence can be used to identify victims of crimes, such as in cases where the victim's body has been severely damaged or decomposed. Providing evidence in court DNA evidence is admissible as evidence in court and can be presented to a jury to help establish the guilt or innocence of a defendant. DNA evidence has become an important tool in the criminal justice system and has helped to solve many crimes, as well as prevent the conviction of innocent individuals and try so hard to find out who the offenders

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We know that DNA testing is giving hope to the hopeless in prison. Margret Berger (2006) comments, “Even though the number of inmates released as a consequence of DNA testing is minuscule in contrast to the two million persons incarcerated in the United States, the DNA exonerations have had an enormous impact on the fundamental assumptions about the American criminal justice system and how it operates.” Changes like the desirability of the death penalty, the growing concerns on how forensic laboratories operate alongside the increasing interest in forensic science overall. For instance, as the number of exonerations continues to rise, the number of people being placed on death row is decreasing thanks to Supreme Court rulings that juveniles under the age of 18 and the mentally ill cannot be sentenced to death. The death penalty is overall losing its appeal to society, not just because of the DNA testing, but people become aware of the wrongful convictions of other crimes as well.

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