Should DNA be collected from all criminals?

"Had we required DNA fingerprinting back then, he would have been linked to the rape and the case solved," says Parker.

On Monday, critics of the New York proposal publicly complained that the backlog of cases is already large. Tom Duane (D), the only state senator to vote against the New York measure, worries about the cost of expansion, as well as how to ensure proper training of personnel and storage of the samples. "What good will it do if it's not done right?" he asked.

Such concerns go well beyond New York. In February, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, in their magazine, published an article detailing mistakes that have cropped up at DNA labs around the country. "Many of the mistakes arise from cross-contamination or mislabeling of DNA samples," wrote William Thompson, a professor at the University of California, Irvine.

Thompson's concerns arise just as states and cities are expanding their use of DNA testing. Los Angeles County is preparing to open a new crime lab in 2007. A proposed county budget included funding not only for the lab, but also for prosecutors and public defenders training in DNA technology. Nebraska recently passed a bill to include felony robbery and burglary convictions among those requiring DNA samples. Wisconsin is considering a bill to add some misdemeanor-related sex crimes to its DNA-collection requirements.

But with such expansions come concerns. Mr. Saloom of the Innocence Project objects to law-enforcement agencies holding the DNA of innocent people, especially those who merely cooperated with an investigation. These samples should be destroyed, he says. "The fundamental values of government accountability and personal privacy are at stake," he says.

Some of these arguments resonate with Assemblyman Joseph Lentol (D), chairman of the Assembly Codes Committee, which deals with criminal sanctions. "We are asking [DNA labs] to destroy the DNA of an innocent party," says Mr. Lentol. "This is a privacy issue."

Parker, the director of criminal justice for the state, says cooperating individuals can ask a judge to order their samples to be returned. "The burden is on the police to always demonstrate to a judge that whatever evidence they are collecting, whether it's a DNA fingerprint or a photograph or a handwriting sample, that it has been collected lawfully and that it's being used for a lawful purpose," he says.

In addition, Assemblyman Lentol also worries that private labs will use DNA information for commercial gain. "There is an almost limitless possibility of ID theft," he worries.

That concern is addressed in the pending legislation, Parker says, by increasing the penalty for unlawful use of a DNA sample.

The governor and lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session, June 22, to come to terms on the proposal.

Page: 1 | 2