|
St. Petersburg Times
Legal evolution
At last, a bill that will go a long way toward standardizing the use of DNA in court cases has a chance of passage in
Congress. [This is H.R.537, the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003]
A Times Editorial
Published December 1, 2003
[This link was found on the St.Petersburg Times website through a Google search on 3/18/04]
Excerpt--
Legislation designed to give prison inmates greater access to DNA testing and improve legal representation
for defendants facing capital charges finally has bipartisan support in Congress. Negotiations have taken a number of years,
but a bill has now emerged that, except for a handful of disgruntled conservative Republicans, has the support of lawmakers
in both parties. ...
One of the most troubling provisions in the bill would open the FBI's DNA database
to anyone who is arrested and not just adults convicted of crimes. That would markedly expand the database with information
on people whose private genetic information should not be under long-term government control. This is the classic slippery
slope. If the FBI can maintain DNA profiles on arrestees, then why not on all Americans? The Senate should remove this provision
before passage of the legislation. ...
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/01/Opinion/Legal_evolution.shtml
|
 |
|
Status of Bill as of March 18, 2004
Bill Summary & Status for the 108th Congress
H.R.537
Title: To authorize the grant program for elimination of the nationwide backlog in analyses of DNA samples at
the level necessary to completely eliminate the backlog and obtain a DNA sample from every person convicted of a qualifying
offense.
Sponsor: Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] (introduced 2/5/2003) Cosponsors:
(none)
SUMMARY AS OF:
2/5/2003--Introduced.
DNA Database Completion Act of 2003 - Amends the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to authorize $100 million
for each of FY 2003 through 2007 for grants to eligible States for DNA analyses of samples taken from individuals convicted
of a qualifying State offense, and of samples from crime scenes, for inclusion in the Combined DNA Index System.
- 2/5/2003:
- Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- 3/6/2003:
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
-
For future status checks, click on-- http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR00537:@@@X
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|