The Supreme Court just rejected an appeal from Rodney Reed, a longtime death row inmate who has been desperately fighting for DNA testing on crucial crime scene evidence he believes would finally clear his name. This decision marks a serious blow to Reed’s nearly three-decade-long quest for exoneration, effectively ensuring a key piece of evidence will never see the light of day.
Reed has maintained his innocence since his conviction and death sentence in 1998 for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. This latest ruling is the second time in under three years that the justices have upheld a decision against Reed from the federal appeals court in New Orleans, though the three liberal justices did dissent this time around.
