Minnesota and North Carolina introduced bill to take DNA samples from all convicted felons, and Alaska, California, and West Virginia introduced more limited DNA database expansion bills. An article on a Rhode Island proposal to expand to all felons ran on a national press wire.

Alabama, California, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Texas have recently solved old crimes through matches on their state's offender DNA database. Backlog issues facing crime labs in Ohio and Texas were reported.

An Idaho bill to eliminate the statute of limitations for rape has been introduced and quickly passed by its policy committee, and similar bills moved forward in Arizona and Colorado. A California judge has upheld a warrant issued against a genetic profile.

Virginia has enacted a post conviction DNA testing bill, and similar bills in Indiana, South Dakota, Utah and Washington continue to move through the process. The Florida Bar Association is pressuring the State Supreme Court to change its rules for post conviction testing. Meanwhile, the Ohio Attorney General's office reports that no inmates have taken the state's offer for post conviction DNA testing.

In Other Parts of the World:

“DNA dragnetting” has begun in a Scottish rape case. Police in England may be using DNA evidence to determine the race of unidentified criminals, and authorities claim their national DNA database makes 800 matches per week. Australia police are facing charges of “bullying” an inmate into giving a DNA sample, and police in Toronto, Canada have significantly increased the nation's offender database.

About This Report:

Tim Schellberg and Lisa Hurst of Smith Alling Lane, P.S. provide nationwide governmental affair services to Applied Biosystems. As part of the firm’s representation weekly reports are generated which identify recent state and federal legislation and news articles. Applied Biosystems has authorized Smith Alling Lane to make these reports available to anyone that requests them through this web site.

The information presented in these reports does not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Applied Biosystems, Smith Alling Lane, P.S., or The Forensic Panel.

The March 2, 2001 DNA legislative and media summary has been posted on the Internet at the link at the bottom of this article. Archived summaries may also be obtained at this site. Use the link below to get the complete report.