Congress Should Support Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing

I'll never forget how lonely I felt when the jury announced its guilty verdict and the courtroom erupted in applause. I thought, how could this happen? It felt surreal, but soon after reality sunk in: I could spend the rest of my life in prison until the state of Maryland executed me. I spent eight years, 11 months and 19 days locked away — two of those years on death row — for a rape and murder that I did not commit, before post-conviction DNA testing proved my innocence.

If not for post-conviction DNA testing, I might still be in prison, or worse, I could have been executed. In 1993, I became the first death-row inmate in the U.S. to be exonerated by DNA testing. Since then, I have dedicated my life to advocating for reforms that will both prevent and identify wrongful convictions.

Recently I had the opportunity to make a case for criminal justice reform as a participant in the Coalition for Public Safety’s and Cut50’s Bipartisan Fair Justice Summit. This year, Congress can support reform by passing...