S 1700
106th Congress
Senate
Crime and Law Enforcement
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Criminal procedure
DNA fingerprints
Evidence (Law)
Forensic medicine
Health
Identification of criminals
Law
Prisoners' rights
Science, Technology, Communications
Suspects' rights
Technological innovations
TRUTH Act
Everywhere this bill has been
3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Oct 6, 1999
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Oct 6, 1999
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S12107-12108)
Oct 6, 1999
Introduced in Senate
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Plain-English summary
Right to Use Technology in the Hunt for Truth Act or TRUTH Act - Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to allow a court, on a motion of a defendant, to order forensic DNA testing on evidence that was secured in the defendant's trial which resulted in the defendant's conviction, but that was not subject to such testing because the technology was not available at the time of trial. Requires the defendant to present a prima facie case that: (1) identity was an issue in the trial; and (2) the evidence has been subject to a chain of custody sufficient to establish that it has not been substituted, tampered with, replaced, or altered in any material aspect. Directs the court to allow the testing upon a determination that: (1) the result of the testing has the scientific potential to produce new, noncumulative evidence materially relevant to the defendant's assertion of actual innocence; and (2) the testing requested employs a scientific method generally accepted within the relevant scientific community.
What's happening now
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Related & companion bills
1
Bill text
1 version
- Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF
Committees of jurisdiction
1
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1700: TRUTH Act. 106th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/106-S-1700/
"S. 1700: TRUTH Act." 106th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/106-S-1700/.
S. 1700, 106th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/106-S-1700/.
[S. 1700: TRUTH Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/106-S-1700/)