Local DNA Labs Avoid Legal Limits On State and Federal DNA Databases
A growing number of police crime labs are adding DNA from suspects to databases that operate outside of state and federal law by matching those suspects to unrelated crimes. Proponents say the databases, which have solved more than 50 crimes, are legitimate because no laws forbid them. Defense lawyers and privacy advocates counter that the federal government and all 50 states require individuals to be convicted or in some cases indicted for a serious crime before their DNA can be added to the FBI's national criminal database. Searching a suspect's DNA, they argue, violates privacy rights.
Local DNA labs avoid state and U.S. limits, USA Today, March 26. 2007.
