A 2008 Illinois law requires the state police crime lab to collect DNA evidence from murder and manslaughter victims. Crime victims are more likely to have committed crimes themselves, according to research (Tribune), so lawmakers passed the bill in an attempt to solve the state's backlog of cold cases (Chicago Police Dept.).
At the risk of sounding insensitive, dead people probably don't care too much about their privacy. But it's not nearly that simple, of course, as the Tribune article points out.
Critics point out that it's impossible to prosecute a corpse, as the solving of cold cases requires a fair trial of the accused. And even if the DNA of another victim is linked to a homicide victim, critics say, investigators have no way of knowing that the mere presence of such evidence means the deceased committed the crime (for example, what if the two victims were romantically involved?).
Harvard Medical School pathology professor Frederick Bieber told Tribune reporters that searches conducted with the DNA of dead people opens up a whole can of worms:
"This walks a fine line between genetic privacy and public safety. And without a clear, transparent protocol, you're in danger of ending up with misguided, misleading and inefficient searches."
In terms of privacy concerns, critics add, it's the family members of homicide victims who would suffer shame or embarrassment (even as they grieve their loss) after an assumption of guilt is made by police based only on a DNA match.
But that's just one half of the controversy.
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who drafted the bill requiring the collection of such evidence, is furious with what he describes as the state's ham-handed enactment of the law. For example: Not all police departments are submitting DNA gathered from sexual assault cases; Illinois crime labs already suffer a major backlog of unprocessed DNA evidence and as many as 50,000 felons have not submitted DNA samples in accordance with an earlier state law.
The law has been in effect since 2008, but Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Nancy Lynne Jones has yet to submit DNA samples from any of this year's 550 homicide victims. Jones has been providing the evidence to police, mistakenly assuming they are responsible for sending it to the crime lab.
In any event, the law is not being followed or maybe wasn't drafted in a clear or practical manner in the first place. Meanwhile, critics view it as a violation of civil liberties.
- Find a Chicago criminal attorney (FindLaw)
- Forensic DNA and Illinois Q&A (DNA Initiative)
- DNA Evidence: It's in Your Genes (FindLaw)
