Tuesday, July 01, 2008
DNA SAMPLING BILL NOW IN SC GOVERNOR'S HANDS
We thought this was a bad idea then and we think it is a bad idea now. After all, who is going to oversee the destruction of DNA once people are acquitted? And note:
Graham Boyd, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union South Carolina Office, said the provision to take samples upon arrest is a poison pill for a bill that could otherwise do a lot of good.
"The privacy concerns that troubled the governor before have not been cured and in some cases, I think, are even worse," Boyd said.
Boyd said that the bill could mean the state could have thousands of DNA samples on record for innocent people. In 2005, he said, more than 100,000 arrests were made in South Carolina and only 42 percent resulted in convictions.
"The reality of this bill would be that the majority of the people who are arrested shouldn't have their DNA tested," Boyd said.
Labels: DNA
