On Aug. 15, 2016, landscapers working along Plamondon Road in an unincorporated area near Wheaton found the dead, full-term newborn in a backpack along the roadside. Since then, the DuPage County sheriff’s office has been investigating to learn the identity of the baby and what happened to her.
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Friday that makes Illinois the eighth state to remove time restrictions on prosecuting crimes of sexual violence.
The Democrat signed into law a measure that lifts a 10-year statute of limitations on pressing charges in felony cases of sexual assault and sexual abuse.
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Posted in DNA Legislation, Forensic Industry News
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — After three years of implementing regulations around the testing and tracking of sexual assault evidence kits, law went into place on Monday that mandates the testing of all kits, with very rare exceptions.
Genetic testing companies are forming a new coalition on best practices for handling DNA information and to promote the industry in Washington as lawmakers put more scrutiny on their privacy practices.
Three companies — Ancestry, 23andMe and Helix, which provide DNA testing and analysis — formed the Coalition for Genetic Data Protection, first reported by The Hill.
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Posted in Ancestry, DNA Legislation
The idea behind the law is to help prevent wrongful convictions based on eyewitness testimony. Forty-eight states already have similar laws on the books, and the federal court system already permits expert testimony on the subject.
CHICAGO (WLS) — Action is being taken to reduce delays in testing DNA evidence that’s sitting unchecked.
A bipartisan state bill to implement “Rapid DNA” had already passed in the House, and on Tuesday, it passed unanimously in the Senate.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Wednesday night, the Senate passed House Bill 1399, a bill allowing law enforcement to collect DNA samples of people they arrest for violent crimes like murder, rape, and assault.
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Posted in Database, DNA Legislation
MARINETTE – The first-degree sexual assault charge filed against a northern Oconto County man accused of a double homicide nearly 43 years ago was dismissed Monday at hearing where defense attorneys signaled an intent to aggressively fight DNA evidence in the case.
Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow did not dispute a defense motion to dismiss the charge against Raymond L. Vannieuwenhoven, which noted the statute of limitations had expired after six years.
Fresno – On Wednesday, May 22, at 9 am, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will argue that criminal defendants have a right to review and evaluate the source code of forensic DNA analysis software programs used to create evidence against them. The case, California v. Johnson, is on appeal to a California appeals court.
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Posted in DNA Legislation
It happens almost every week: Police reveal that DNA technology has helped them crack a decades-old case or identify an infamous serial killer like Jack the Ripper.
Investigators have been using criminal DNA databases for decades, but commercial genealogy sites like Ancestry.com and 23andMe have revolutionized the industry. Now people can make their own genetic material public, and when law enforcement use that information to solve crimes, it can raise serious questions about privacy.
(TRENTON) – Under a measure (A-4677) passed by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee Monday, a DNA sample would be required to be collected from a person arrested for endangering the welfare of a child by committing a child pornography offense.
May 7, 2019 – Washington – Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) released the following statements after the Debbie Smith Act of 2019 passed out of the Senate Dianne FeinsteinJudiciary Committee:
A bill that would expand DNA searches to closed cases has passed the Kansas Legislature.
According to State Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., who advocated for the bill, Senate Bill 102 was bundled with another measure and passed with only minor changes from the original bill.
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Posted in DNA Legislation
TWENTY YEARS AGO, you had about a 1 in 6 billion chance of knowing someone who’d had their DNA sequenced. Today, almost every American can name someone who’s had some form of genetic testing.
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Posted in DNA Legislation
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– NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The San Francisco County Superior Court today will hear arguments in a case challenging California law enforcement’s practice of retaining DNA profiles of individuals arrested for a felony.
The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Genetics and Society, the Equal Justice Society, and Pete Shanks against California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the California Department of Justice, alleges that law enforcement’s practice of taking DNA samples from arrestees suspected of a felony and retaining the profiles in a database, even if they’re never charged or convicted, violates privacy protections and restrictions on unreasonable searches and seizures in California’s constitution.
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