Legal News

On the Merits of a National DNA Database

By Ashby Jones

On its face, the establishment of a national DNA database sounds rather terrifying and Orwellian. We can’t imagine that the majority of Americans, privacy obsessed as we are, would willingly consent to such an idea — and gleefully skip on down to the DMV to give a cheek swab.

Nevertheless, it appears to be an idea on the ascent. According to an opinion piece in Monday’s NYT by Yale Law student Michael Seringhaus, President Obama, in an appearance on “America’s Most Wanted,” appeared to agree that, in Seringhaus’s words, “there should be a national DNA database with profiles of every person arrested, whether convicted or not.” Click here for a recent Politico article on Obama’s America’s Most Wanted appearance; here for a follow-up at Wired.

Seringhaus largely agrees. His argument is mostly based on the premise that coughing up a DNA sample is no more invasive to our privacy than a simple fingerprint. The sample provides no information other than, well, a unique identifier, like a PIN code.

At the same, time, opines Seringhaus, the potential benefit to law-enforcement is significant:

DNA samples collected from crime scenes are compared against a standing database of profiles, and matches are investigated. Obviously, the more individuals profiled in the database, the more likely a crime-scene sample can be identified, hence the president's enthusiasm to expand the nationwide repository.

Several states reportedly have taken to a technique called “familial DNA search,” which enables police to search for partial DNA matches and often provides them valuable leads. While it can work, writes Seringhaus, it also yields too many false positives and leads law-enforcement to point fingers at innocent people. It also can lead to an insidious form of racial profiling. Writes Seringhuas:

A much fairer system would be to store DNA profiles for each and every one of us. This would eliminate any racial bias, negate the need for the questionable technique of familial search, and of course be a far stronger tool for law enforcement than even an arrestee database.

. . .

Provided our privacy remains secure, there is no excuse not to use every bit of science we can in the fight against crime. The key is making sure that all Americans contribute their share.

A national DNA database. LBers, you feeling it?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 15, 2010 (boomark / email).