How Can DNA Help Exonerate Those Wrongly Convicted?

By simply flipping a popular forensics scenario from establishing guilt to proving the innocence of someone wrongfully convicted, teachers can situate student learning in a contemporary social justice phenomenon that fosters critical analysis and that is also academically rigorous (Mackenzie 2020; Morrison, Bell, and Rhinehart 2019). The canonical framework of science assumes science to be neutral and apolitical, but it is not; racist scientific and medical research has a long history (see Washington 2006 for examples). [...]it is important that educators discuss how science can be used in anti-racist ways. [...]students analyze one last graph together as a class and are pointed toward two inequities in particular that surfaced from this last data visualization: the proportional overrepresentation of Black people in both incarcerated and exonerated populations (see Figure 2). How does DNA technology allow us to compare an individual's DNA to crime scene evidence? (Lessons 2-4) Over the next three lessons, the classroom can be conceived of as a larger social justice organization working to use DNA technology to help establish the innocence of those wrongly convicted (e.g., The Innocence Project or Equal Justice Initiative).