Powerful Crime Detection Tool or Blatant Invasion of Privacy?

Los Angeles police are saying they’ve arrested a serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper using familial DNA, or the comparison of one’s unique genetic code with a relative’s unique code, according to a CNN report.

Police say they found the man accused of killing 11 people in murders dating back to 1985 by comparing DNA found at some of the crime scenes with the DNA of the suspect’s son, who was in a California lock-up. The son’s DNA led them to the father, and police are sure they’ve solved the case.

Problem is, familial DNA is a controversial crime-solving method.

“Familial DNA testing is a solid first step grounded in biology, statistics and genetics that leads you to a suspect which traditional investigative work can seal,” said Mitch Morrissey, the district attorney of Denver, Colo., and a nationally outspoken proponent of familial searches.

The FBI, however, has resisted collecting familial DNA, as have states except for California and Colorado, because of the possibility of a backlash by civil rights groups over privacy, said Jeffrey Rosen, a law professor at Georgetown University Law School.

The FBI is concerned that if it began collecting familial DNA from arrestees, the backlash could jeopardize its efforts to keep DNA samples from convicted felons, Rosen explained.California is now being challenged in court for obtaining and testing familial DNA from people who are arrested.

“The state is really pushing the envelope legally,” Rosen said. “If you’re convicted, then there’s an understanding that you have limited your rights to privacy. To merely be arrested, some argue you should be able to maintain that privacy.”

Another fiery controversy concerning familial testing is racial profiling. Since jails and prisons are disproportionately filled with minorities, familial DNA matching will net more African-Americans than any other group of people.

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