John Cornyn: “As you know, I am a strong believer in the power of DNA to solve crimes. I want to see the United States develop as…”

“As you know, I am a strong believer in the power of DNA to solve crimes. I want to see the United States develop as broad and as powerful a DNA database as possible. The States have a strong interest in solving past crimes. I also believe that there is no reason to exclude DNA from CODIS simply because charges against an arrestee are dismissed or he is acquitted--fingerprints are kept in such cases, and there is no reason to treat DNA differently than fingerprints. The bill bars States from keeping an arrestee's DNA sample if charges are dropped or he is acquitted. There is no reason to do so. Experience shows that felony arrestees--even those who are not ultimately convicted--are a good population from which to predict other crimes. Excluding unindicted arrestees will simply prevent States from solving more crimes. I understand that legislative compromise has forced us to exclude arrestees--even those indicted--if charges against them are dropped. I am glad to see that your understanding of the States's otherwise broad authority conforms to my own understanding-- that outside of the arrestee-sample context, States may still upload and exchange any DNA collected under State and local laws, policies, and practices on the NDIS database. In expressing this view, I would like to emphasize that keeping DNA samples in CODIS and NDIS does not affect privacy--the analysis used has no medical predictive value.”