Thursday, March 6, 2008
DNA database creates genetic surveillance
Published in The Gazette

Warrantless seizure of DNA from individuals who are arrested but not
convicted of crimes is being considered in the Maryland General Assembly. This collection is not for the purpose of establishing the identity of the arrestee. It is also not for the purpose of linking the arrestee to the crime for which he or she has been arrested. It is in order to stockpile DNA in state and federal DNA warehouses, called ‘‘databanks.”

These databanks are a sophisticated and secretive way to ‘‘round up the usual suspects” in the expectation that if they are not guilty of the crime for which they have been arrested, they are guilty of something.

Our Fourth Amendment promises a society free from fear of government surveillance and intrusion. It does not tolerate rounding people up and holding them in cells until we can prove they are guilty of a crime. DNA databanks simply sweep this kind of dragnet off the streets.

Another disturbing reality lurks behind the same mask: African Americans are disproportionately represented in our DNA databanks, and this imbalance will be exacerbated by further expanding the databanks to arrestees.

Across the country, the ‘‘usual suspects” are overwhelmingly African American. Although 27.9 percent of Maryland’s population is African American, 72.3 percent of Maryland’s prison population is black. The unsettling consequence is a DNA warehouse comprised primarily of African Americans.

The DNA dragnet also traps within it many African Americans who have never been arrested or suspected of any crime. Known DNA profiles are used to identify parents, children, siblings and relatives whose profiles are not in the database.

Capitalizing on this, the government allows databases to be searched for near-matches. Databanks have already become the tools of genetic surveillance of the African-American community.

The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland sees these implications clearly, and wisely has voted to oppose this legislation. They believe, as we do, that no democratic good can come of a proposal that asks us to abandon our civil rights.

Gerald G. Stansbury, president, Maryland State NAACP, Annapolis; June White Dillard, president, Prince George’s Branch NAACP, Fort Washington; and Cynthia Boersma, legislative director, ACLU of Maryland, Annapolis

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