US DNA LAWS
30 states have enacted legislation to require DNA upon felony arrest.
30 States Collect DNA Upon Felony Arrest
Currently, 30 states require DNA collection from individuals arrested for a felony. Of those, 19 states collect DNA for ALL felony arrests, while the remaining 11 limit collection to certain violent felonies and burglary. Federal law requires DNA collection for all felony arrests. The District of Columbia collects DNA only for certain violent offenses.
All 50 states participate in CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, and collect DNA for felony conviction.
Our position: all 50 states should require DNA collection upon arrest for all felonies, not just a select list of violent crimes. The gap between the 19 states doing this right and the 11 states with limited collection is exactly where more preventable crimes are slipping through.
MARYLAND V. KING
The US Supreme Court has ruled that requiring a forensic DNA sample upon felony arrest does not violate rights guaranteed by the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution. Specifically, the court stated that requiring a DNA sample from an individual arrested for a felony is a reasonable and legitimate police booking procedure, similar to fingerprinting or photographying.
DNA fingerprinting serves “a well-established, legitimate government interest: the need of law enforcement officers in a safe and accurate way to process and identify persons and possessions taken into custody”. Maryland v. King 569 U.S. (2013)
What is contained within CODIS, the national DNA database?
CODIS contains a digitized representation of only 20 base pairs or markers out of over 3 billion on the human genome. These 20 markers are non-coding and contain no genetic information. There are profiles from crime scene evidence as well as those arrested for and convicted of crimes.
Can the information in CODIS reveal any medical or genetic characteristics?
No. The areas of DNA used for forensic testing provide no value for disease association, genetic predisposition on physical characteristic.
Are DNA databases discriminatory?
The information contained in COLDIS does not reveal any information that can be used to discriminate. The database does not identify race or socio-economic status.
How do DNA databases protect public safety?
Studies have shown DNA databases to be one of the most effective crime-fighting tools available to law enforcement.
Case studies of twenty offenders in seven states have identifies 170 crimes that could have been prevented by collecting DNA upon felony arrest. By missing this opportunity to correctly identify criminals who were booked and fingerprinted for other felony arrests, law enforcement unwittingly released violent criminals back into the community—free to rape and murder more citizens.