About the Legislation
The Justice Project led a five-year campaign to pass the Innocence Protection Act (IPA), which was signed into law as part of the larger Justice for All Act by President Bush on October 30, 2004. The IPA represents a milestone as the first federal death penalty reform to be enacted.

The Justice For All Act is the product of a bi-partisan, bicameral compromise led by then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Ranking Member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), then-House Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA). It passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 393 to 14 on October 6, 2004 and the Senate by voice vote three days later.

The IPA includes the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program to provide funding to states for post-conviction DNA testing. The law also authorizes significant funding to states to help improve the quality of representation in capital cases. States may apply for these funds to help train, oversee, and improve the quality of death penalty trials.

The Justice for All Act also authorizes funding to states to clear their DNA backlogs and improve forensic laboratory capacity and standards across the nation.

Key Provisions of the Justice for All Act

Innocence Protection Act

• Creates the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program and authorizes $25 million over five years to help states pay the costs of post-conviction DNA testing.
• Authorizes grants to states for Capital Prosecution and Capital Defense Improvement to train, oversee, and improve the quality of death penalty trials, as well as assist families of murder victims. Congress authorized $375 million over five years in grants to states that adopt and implement minimum standards for the appointment of prosecutors and defense counsel in capital cases. It also subjects the state to federal review to ensure the money is spent as required by law.

DNA Testing

• Enacts the Debbie Smith Backlog Grant Program and authorizes $755 million to test the backlog of over 300,000 rape kits and other crime scene evidence awaiting analysis in our nation’s crime labs.
• Enacts the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act and the Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act, authorizing more than $500 million for programs to improve the capacity of crime labs to conduct DNA analysis, reduce non-DNA backlogs, train examiners, support sexual assault forensic examiner programs, and promote the use of DNA to identify missing persons.

Crime Victims’ Rights
Title I provides substantive rights for crime victims, as well as mechanisms to enforce these rights. It authorizes $155 million in funding over five years for victims’ assistance programs at the Federal and state level. This appropriation will be used to fund:

• Victim/Witness Assistance Programs at the offices of the United States Attorneys
• Enhancement of the Victim Notification System at the Department of Justice
• Organizations that provide legal counsel and support services for victims
• Creation of state-of-the-art victims’ rights laws and compliance systems in the states

IPA Reauthorization

The Innocence Protection Act is scheduled to be reauthorized in 2009. The Justice Project is committed to seeing that the IPA is renewed and improved to enable states to expand post-conviction DNA testing and to improve the quality of defense provided in capital cases.

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