NEGATIVE — MEDICAL — SIGNIFICANCE 243

DNA DATABASES POSE NO PRIVACY THREAT

DNA SAMPLES FOR CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION CANNOT PHYSICALLY BE USED FOR PURPOSES OF DISRIMINATION

Richard Willing USA TODAY January 18, 2000, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4A TITLE: Group favors states holding DNA samples But it also calls for study of privacy rights of convicts // acs-EE2001

The portion of the DNA used for criminal identification is not believed to contain sensitive information, such as susceptibility to disease, that can be gleaned from other parts of the DNA. But retaining samples, usually blood or saliva, leaves potentially sensitive genetic information in the hands of police, critics say.

DNA DATABASES DO NOT INVADE PRIVACY RIGHTS

Amy Argetsinger; Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post, March 24, 1999, SECTION: METRO; Pg. B01 TITLE: Md. Seeks The DNA Of Violent Criminals; Critics Cite Threat To Privacy Rights Web // acs-EE2001

Civil libertarians protest such registries on the grounds that they violate convicts' privacy and make them perpetual suspects.

But U.S. courts generally have upheld the constitutionality of such databases. And state police say the expanded DNA registry -- with data on nearly 13,000 criminals -- would vastly improve their ability to solve the baffling cases for which they have no suspects.

Investigators could analyze blood, semen or saliva found at a crime scene, then compare its unique genetic code with the thousands recorded in the database.

"It's a pretty clear-cut way of solving crime," said Louis C. Portis, director of the state police crime laboratory. The same technology also can clear people who have been wrongly accused.