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Dna Testing Pros And Cons

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With the leaps in the technology that has happened over the course of 30 years is incredible. From smart phones, to fit bits the world has become more advanced, and through these advancements have helped further investigations in the criminal system. From being able to take DNA or fingerprints and search a database for a match, to furthering our knowledge on blood splatter analysis helps the Criminal Justice System to prove if someone is truly guilty of a crime, In the year 1987 the criminal justice system started to use DNA testing as evidence in the courtroom. With this new evidence many cases have been overturned and innocent people on death row have been set free. “Improved DNA testing has led to many death row convicts being exonerated. …show more content…

There are many different ways that DNA test can be used, it can be used to help find out who the parents are if there is a body that found, or even the Mitochondrial DNA if there is hair left behind. The Mitochondrial DNA is passed down through the females in a family but it isn’t different from each person like regular DNA. When DNA test first came out it took weeks to months, getting the results but with the advances in technology makes it easier to get. “After the research determines whether the technology works well enough to deploy to the field, policymakers need to decide who can be screened and when, Elzea said. The Pentagon is developing guidance "for the use of rapid DNA analysis capabilities," she said” (Locker …show more content…

For example in the case of Vaughn, he told a different story than what the blood had shown, and was proven guilty of the crime. Blood spatter analyst can do more than read the blood that is painted all over the walls, they are able to read the blood that isn’t seen. For example if there is dehydrated blood or left over blood on the murder weapon when the murder tried to clean it, the expert has to spray water on it which will rehydrate the blood. When the blood is rehydrated they are able to extract a sample for testing. Although red blood

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The Department of Justice says, "States began passing laws requiring offenders convicted of certain offenses to provide DNA samples. " That DNA evidence can help convict someone of a crime and it helps to uncover more things about the crime itself. Investigators have been using forensic science to help them solve cases since before the 90 's, mostly fingerprints that were found at the crime scenes and on the victims (O 'Brien). DNA evidence has solved countless cases including ones that happened over a prolonged period of time because of the technological advancements there is

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Bloodstains were also recovered from Laura’s mattress and other pillowcase through the use of the chemicals Ameeto Black and Luminol. The amount of blood found indicated to investigators that she had been murdered. In 1991, scientists at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Bern, Switzerland investigated if “Some of the commonly used presumptive test reagents for identification of blood and semen could potentially affect the recovery of intact high-molecular-weight de- oxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from evidentiary samples. Thus, the capability of performing restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis on evidentiary samples could be compromised.”

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It is a great technological innovation that can help bring evidences and fact faster. In the article The DNA Wars Are Over, “Forensic use of DNA technology in criminal cases began in 1986… In one of the first uses of DNA in a criminal case in the United States, in November 1987.” Sadly in 1985, DNA testing was not popular in the U.S. investigation and was not available in Cole’s case. I believe the U.S. court system is improving and yes there are a lot mistrials and wrongful conviction cases, but you cannot avoid the fact that DNA testing can bring better truth than just relying on statements of both

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1990 Words | 8 Pages

We know that DNA testing is giving hope to the hopeless in prison. Margret Berger (2006) comments, “Even though the number of inmates released as a consequence of DNA testing is minuscule in contrast to the two million persons incarcerated in the United States, the DNA exonerations have had an enormous impact on the fundamental assumptions about the American criminal justice system and how it operates.” Changes like the desirability of the death penalty, the growing concerns on how forensic laboratories operate alongside the increasing interest in forensic science overall. For instance, as the number of exonerations continues to rise, the number of people being placed on death row is decreasing thanks to Supreme Court rulings that juveniles under the age of 18 and the mentally ill cannot be sentenced to death. The death penalty is overall losing its appeal to society, not just because of the DNA testing, but people become aware of the wrongful convictions of other crimes as well.

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DNA, also known as Deoxyribonucleic acid; is a molecule that carries certain genetic instructions that are used in the growth, functioning, developing, and reproduction of all known living organisms. Consequently, its analysis gives investigators the ability to find both the suspects and the victim of a crime. There are many ways DNA can be used to better understand a person and their characteristics, such as determining identity by analyzing hair samples. In addition, DNA has now made a new system for warrants known as “DNA” warrants which provides an alternative method to determining and apprehending suspects based off of samples of their genetic material. The components of DNA has significantly aided government officials in determining the unique traits of a perpetrator.

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Statement of the Problem DNA has become a vital part of criminal investigations. DNA can include and exclude suspects of criminal investigations. During a criminal investigation, all DNA should be collected, properly preserved and tested, but at times this does not occur or the technology was not available for this process to occur. In addition, DNA has become an imperative portion of exoneration cases.

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In King, Justice Kennedy referred to the invention of DNA technology as “one of the most significant scientific advancements of our era.” This statement has been criticized, but the impact of DNA technology has been significant. Currently, forensic analysts can use “junk” DNA to identify a person with near certainty. Law enforcement can collect a person’s DNA through saliva. The sample is then uploaded to CODIS, a national network of DNA databases.

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As we gone further along in history we can now detect DNA, DNA from dental, saliva, cameras, and facial sketches. “DNA databases have been raised using arguments from biomedical ethics; these databases are used in a complete Different context from other biomedical tools. Because they are used in the struggle against crime, the decision to create or store cannot be left by the individual. Genetic profile Instead, this decision is made by officials of society.” Annemie Patyn and Kris Dierickx Shows the pivotal role evidence has on solving crimes.

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Technology is more prominent than ever, so it is necessary to draw the line between its usefulness and its potential violation of privacy. Much like fingerprinting, DNA profiling is a useful way to identify criminals and their victims; however, DNA profiling has proven much more useful and accurate. The genetic information that is found in DNA can be obtained through a number of specimens such as hair, saliva, and blood. Given a sample, current technology can decrypt genetic information and store it in a database to be accessed by law enforcement authorities for criminal justice. The FBI was given the power to establish a National DNA Index System (NDIS) when Congress passed the DNA Identification Act in 1994.

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Due to DNA testing now available many cases of wrongful conviction have led them to be exonerated, by a confession from the actual perpetrator or other convincing evidence of innocence that wasn’t available at trail. For a DNA profile to be made they must first find evidence in form of blood, saliva, skin tissue, hair and semen that was recovered from a crime

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All state justice systems should allow post-conviction DNA testing and the collection of DNA from suspects. This will help the wrongly convicted to prove their innocence and avoid the death penalty, and also have the chance at exoneration. Law enforcement should collect DNA from suspects to prove if suspects truly are innocent or guilty. As well as require state officials to properly catalogue and preserve biological evidence for as long as the suspect is incarcerated. DNA testing is an important way for those who have been wrongly convicted to prove their innocence.

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Gun Control is a big deal in America at the moment. It is one of those things that have a good side, and a bad side. With this, many laws have already been put into effect, and needed to be. The question still remains, should an American Citizen be able to purchase a gun? If guns are taken away, how would someone defend themselves?

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In the past, an officer had relied on forensic methods that are much less accurate and that are being proved to be unreliable today. Statistics show that 36% of exonerated cases involved unreliable or limited science. (Collins, 2009) For example, DNA evidence is now the standard as opposed to previous methods of fingerprinting, and hair analysis. With the widespread acceptance of DNA testing, criminals can now be convicted with much more accuracy.

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This can be used for legal purposes. This type of testing can be used to identify catastrophe victim (these are people who die in accidents or disasters that can not physically be identified), identify crime victims, rule out (find innocent) or implicate (find guilty) crime

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DNA in forensic science The majority of cells making up the human body are diploid cells carrying identical DNA, with the exception of haploid gametes and red blood cells. Several types of biological evidence such as blood and hair are commonly used in forensic science, which is the scientific study of evidence for crime scene investigations and other legal matters. Forensic science is used for the purpose of DNA analysis, this is the analysis of DNA samples to determine if it came from a particular individual. DNA analysis is done by obtaining DNA samples from an individual; next, a large sample of DNA is produced from amplified selected sequences from the DNA collected.

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