Arthur Lee Whitfield had served 22 years of a 63-year sentence for rape when he
ID: 171470 • Letter: A
Question
Arthur Lee Whitfield had served 22 years of a 63-year sentence for rape when he was notified that he had gained the right to use DNA fingerprinting to establish his innocence. Luckily, biological evidence had been saved from his jury trial, and DNA fingerprinting showed that his DNA did not match that of the rapist. However, this DNA did match that of another inmate, who was serving a life sentence for an unrelated rape conviction. 1 in response to Whitfield's and similar cases, both law enforcement I agencies and criminal defense attorneys are advocating that all I individuals who are arrested submit samples for DNA fingerprinting. I Some are even pushing to require DNA fingerprinting of all citizens, 1 citing the potential to resolve many cases and exonerate people I wrongfully convicted of crimes. However, many civil libertarians insist that this constitutes illegal search without reasonable cause. Furthermore, others insist that the government cannot be trusted with such a wealth of information because it might be accessed by hackers or used for purposes other than that for which it was intended. Should the government require all citizens or those who are arrested for any reason, to submit samples for DNA fingerprinting? Or do you believe that it would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution?Explanation / Answer
Ofcourse the collection of DNA from all the citizens will make the government in detecting criminals very easily. Instead of having a vast search for the criminal,storing of the DNA finger prints in the data base will be easy to catch criminal. But coming to cons,government should check itself about the security in maintaining all the citizens DNA finger prints in the data base because there may be vast scope for the hackers to start their illegal activities by using these finger prints which may lead the innocent citizens to jail. So it has some pros and also similarly cons in this issue and its is completely depends upon the perfect security of the government in maintaining thier data base.
Related Questions
drjack9650@gmail.com
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.