Last week’s 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that convicted inmates do not have the constitutional right to DNA testing demonstrates once again that we have separate and unequal justice systems operating in the United States.

Forty-seven states and the federal government have passed laws providing access to post-conviction DNA testing. Only Alaska, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma, do not have laws providing access for post-conviction DNA testing.

Thus, if you live in one of these three states and happen to be convicted of a crime, or if your lawyer doesn’t request a DNA test before you are convicted, you’re simply out of luck. Whether you may be entirely innocent of the crime and someone else may be guilty is irrelevant At least that’s the view expressed by 5 members of the highest court in the land – and supposedly some of our best thinkers. The ruling overturned the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals verdict, which recognized a right to such testing under the due-process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

What’s even more stunning about this decision is that there is wide spread agreement among law enforcement officials that DNA testing is a powerful tool in establishing both the innocence and guilt of those who perpetrate violent crimes such as rape and murder. The FBI has established a nationwide data bank for the DNA samples of offenders.

The Innocence Project estimates that modern DNA testing has exonerated 240 people nationwide — at least 17 of these were sentenced to death.

Common sense dictates that if we have the technology and testing available to cheaply and definitively determine guilt or innocence, it is the court’s duty to conduct the test, especially when you consider that if an innocent person is convicted of a crime, a guilty one is still at large.

No innocent person should be incarcerated because they live in a state that doesn’t allow for mandatory DNA testing. All accused, whether convicted or just charged, should have access to DNA testing that would provide equal justice.