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37 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1219 (2000)
DNA Databases: When Fear Goes Too Far

handle is hein.journals/amcrimlr37 and id is 1229 raw text is: DNA DATABASES: WHEN FEAR GOES TOO FAR Rebecca Sasser Peterson* I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ 1219 II. AN OVERVIEW OF DNA AND DNA FINGERPRINTING ................ 1221 A. The DNA Molecule ................................. 1221 B. DNA Fingerprinting ................................ 1222 III. ExISTING AND PROPOSED DNA DATABASES? ................... 1223 A. Offender DNA Database ............................. 1224 B. A Universal DNA Database ........................... 1226 IV. DNA DATABASES AND Tim FOURTH AMENDMENT .................. 1229 A. The Balancing Approach ............................. 1230 B. The Special Needs Approach........................... 1233 V. UNIVERSAL DNA DATABASES AND THE DANGER OF THE PREVENTIVE STATE ..................................... 1235 VI. CONCLUSION ......................................... 1238 I. INTRODUCTION Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.1 Following the highly publicized trial of O.J. Simpson, DNA evidence has become a common feature in American criminal trials. As a forensic tool, DNA analysis was initially used to link an already known suspect to a particular crime scene. In these situations, law enforcement officers obtain DNA from the suspect and compare it to DNA recovered from the crime scene. While this direct analysis of a known suspect's DNA is still widespread, a new forensic use has developed. With the development of DNA databases, states are obtaining DNA samples from people convicted of specific crimes and then storing the resulting DNA finger- print in a computer database.2 When a crime occurs in which DNA evidence is * J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2000; B.A., American University, 1996. 1. Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1928) (Brandeis, J., dissenting). 2. The unique ability of DNA to identify each and every individual has led to its comparison to standard fingerprints. As a result, the visual representation of a person's unique genetic features as developed through DNA analysis for forensic use has been dubbed a person's DNA fingerprint. For further discussion of what makes DNA such a powerful identification tool and how a DNA fingerprint is developed see infra Section II. 1219

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