​So Long Sherlock Holmes; Hello DNA Forensics

One of the criminal justice system’s most vital tools, DNA forensics, has come under scrutiny lately for promoting racial inequalities, violating privacy laws and incriminating innocent individuals. Though it has proven a useful tool for proving guilt and innocence in a number of key cases, technological developments are causing many to question if DNA forensics hurt more than they help.

DNA evidence has been a key criminal justice tool since it’s profiling capabilities were discovered by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984. Constantly evolving advanced technological tools have allowed DNA evidence to be applied in a wide range of cases; from violent felonies to even misdemeanors and juvenile crimes. Indeed, according to the US Department of Justice, “In all, DNA technology is increasingly vital to ensuring accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system.” This is due to the fact that new DNA collection technologies, able to take immediate samples at booking and even to analyze infinitesimally small residues, are now more accessible than ever. Past successes have convinced the justice system that, in many cases, DNA is the most significant body of evidence able to convict or prove innocence. However, there are many questions about how that DNA evidence is collected that can sometimes make ethicists and lawyers question the legitimacy of the evidence.

Some of the most controversial collection techniques take the DNA of convicted felons and former military service people and form partial or familial DNA records. The FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is one of the many advanced national DNA technology systems that can enable police forces to examine crime scene related DNA via a number of parameters. In some instances, the system can allow for the implicating of family members and other innocent individuals based on DNA of close relatives. For example, a convicted felon’s family member, could be questioned or implicated in an investigation based on the close correlation between their DNA (which isn’t in the database) and the DNA of their family member (which is in the database). Privacy is another big issue as governments have begun to collect national DNA databases, sometimes without informing individuals that they are contributing.

Possibly the biggest “scare” about the use of advanced DNA technologies is that is current success in solving cold cases could incentivize politicians to extend the statute of limitation in rape and murder cases. Though this could be an overall positive contribution to a sense of communal justice, the statute of limitation plays the important function of making the justice system more efficient in that it only rules on timely and relevant cases. With rapid DNA technologies that can examine a range of samples and develop advanced profiles, the statute of limitation may never run out and eventually even deceased individuals could be tried for crimes they committed when they were alive! This is obviously an extreme application, but according to the current progress and application of DNA forensics, it is by no means absurd.