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91 B.U. L. Rev. 665 (2011)
DNA Theft: Recognizing the Crime on Nonconsensual Genetic Collection and Testing

handle is hein.journals/bulr91 and id is 669 raw text is: DNA THEFT:
RECOGNIZING THE CRIME OF NONCONSENSUAL
GENETIC COLLECTION AND TESTING
ELIZABETH E. JOH
IN TRO  D U CTION   ............................................................................................... 666
I.  WHY DNA THEFT OCCURS ................................................................. 670
A.    Celebrity DNA Theft .................................................................... 671
B.    Paternity and Fidelity Disputes .................................................. 671
C.    Blackmailers and Nosy Neighbors .............................................. 672
D.    Cheap andAvailable Technology ................................................ 673
II.  THE HARMS OF DNA THEFT ............................................................... 678
A  .  C ollection   H arm  s ......................................................................... 679
B .   A nalysis  H  arm  s ............................................................................ 679
1. Exposure of Medical Information .......................................... 679
2.   Exposure of Genetic Ties ...................................................... 680
C.    The Right to Informational Privacy ............................................. 681
D.    Limits on Genetic Privacy ........................................................... 682
III.  WHY A DISTINCT DNA THEFT OFFENSE? ........................................... 682
A.    DNA    Theft Outside of the United States ...................................... 683
B.    American Law and DNA Theft ..................................................... 686
C.    Existing Criminal Laws ............................................................... 688
IV.    THE CORE ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE ............................................... 689
A .   The   C rim inal A  ct ......................................................................... 689
B.    The Absence of Consent ............................................................... 690
C .   The  M  ental State .......................................................................... 690
D .   Excep   tions  ...................................................................................  69 1
E.    Should DNA       Theft Be Classified as a Felony? ............................ 692
F.    Taking DNA       Theft Seriously ........................................................ 694
V. BENEFITS OF A DNA THEFT OFFENSE ................................................. 695
A.    Fourth Amendment Clarification ................................................. 696
B.    Closing the International Loophole ............................................. 697
C.    Genetic Exceptionalism ............................................................... 698
C O N CLU  SION    ...................................................................................................  700
* Professor of Law, University of California, Davis (eejoh@ucdavis.edu). Thanks to I.
Glenn Cohen, Lisa Ikemoto, Erin E. Murphy, Osagie Obasogie, and Charles Reichmann for
their helpful comments and critiques, to the Stanford Center for Law and Biosciences for
inviting me to give a presentation on this material, to Elisa Cozad, Thomas Oslovar, and
Jacob Storms for extensive research assistance, to the staff of the Mabie Law Library, with
particular thanks to Erin Murphy, for research support, and to Dean Kevin Johnson and the
U.C. Davis School of Law for institutional support. Particular thanks to Floyd Feeney, for
his willingness to provide ideas and comments over the years.
665

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