DNA on File

As DNA testing and fingerprinting become more accessible and admissible in courtrooms and in criminal trials, many law enforcement agencies are considering taking a DNA sample after each arrest. The sample, which will be kept on file for future reference, would be used to identify suspects and deter future crimes. Samples of the DNA would be gathered via a cotton swab to the mouth.

New York City Police commissioner Howard Safir announced his goal to fingerprint every person arrested for both felonies and misdemeanors alike. Although the cost of the project approaches $18 million, the effects, he says, are well worth the money. The State of Louisiana passed a similar law allowing police to take DNA samples from those arrested. Other states already take samples from sex offenders.

United States Attorney General Janet Reno has launched an inquiry into the practicality and benefits of DNA fingerprint databases under the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence. The Commission's vie-chairman, James Crow of the University of Wisconsin, says that DNA databases would not only convict the guilty, but would protect the innocent, as well. He supports his claim by illustrating that over fifty cases - including those involving murder and rape - were reversed after DNA evidence was admitted.

Not everyone supports the usage of DNA databases. The American Civil Liberties Union opposes all efforts to collect DNA from every person arrested. Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the ACLU, believes that placing "the most intimate of secrets of our lives" in government-controlled databases is not only dangerous, but unconstitutional. Norman Iegal of the New York Civil Liberties Union said, "The major fallacy is that [people] equate fingerprinting with DNA. Taking a DNA sample is more intrusive than fingerprinting, and it reveals a person's complete genetic makeup."

The National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence is expected to report its findings soon.