ACLU asks police, DA to halt Cape Cod DNA testing

[wicket]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/010/region/ACLU_asks_police_DA_to_halt_Ca:.shtml

Civil libertarians asked Cape Cod authorities on Monday to stop collecting DNA samples from men in Truro as part of their investigation into the 3-year-old murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington.

Calling the effort ''a serious intrusion on personal privacy'' that is unlikely to yield results, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts sent a letter to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe and Truro Police Chief John Thomas, urging them to end the mass collection of DNA samples.

Police have gathered DNA samples from dozens of men in Truro in a renewed effort to solve Worthington's murder. Seventy-five were tested last week, on top of 100 DNA samples that were gathered earlier in the investigation, and the effort continues.

-snip-

The men were asked to open their mouths as police gathered the DNA with a brief swab on the inside of the cheek. The DNA samples would be compared to semen samples collected from Worthington, to determine whom she had sex with before she died.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wicket]

3. they are trying to test ALL men in the town

:crazy:

[AliciaKeyedUp]

12. Who cares about civil rights after all

This is just a fishing expedition. Will they check the whole state next?

[sui generis]

2. wow - they should try that here in Texas

you know, just go door to door. What a splendid use of taxpayer dollars. Hope they don't lose a squad car in a chuckhole the size of Delaware on the way though.

At least it seems you CAN refuse. For now.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wicket]

5. "Readjust your tin foil and move along"

Excuse me?

[Bridget Burke]

6. But those who refuse go on the list of suspects...

From the article: ''The only reason they seem to be doing this is to find out not what the DNA tells them, but who refuses,'' Reinstein said. ''And the more people who refuse it, the broader they cast their net, and the less likely it is that they're going to get any useful results from it.''

We at DU just LOVE to be ordered to move on.

[Prisonerohio]

7. I am so tired of the tin foil hat thing.

Anyone who knows anything about DNA fingerprinting knows that you cannot use it to single out an individual from such a large population. If its voluntary why do it at all. If I killed somebody I would simply would refuse. The facts definitely imply that there may be an ulterior motive to such large DNA sampling sweeps. Just because it sounds like a conspiracy theory does not mean its not true.

[wicket]

8. well said

and welcome to DU!

:hi:

[MADem]

21. This is more about the TRURO PD and the case itself, than anything else

If you wrote it up as a novel, it would be rejected as too far-fetched. The dead woman's boyfriend was married and sneaking around, they had a kid, he was a suspect, now he is cleared, and his wife is raising the child. The woman was rich and by local standards, famous. There's an older guy in the mix who was seeing her as well and has or had an unsavory girlfriend.

If you committed murder, and refused DNA testing, you'd be followed around covertly and some undercover cop would grab your McDonald's coffee cup or your soda can after you tossed it in the trash. Then, they'd arrest your ass!

This whole thing is about rich people and Barney Fife of the Truro PD...you can't have rich people being killed in a tourist region, and Barney Fife is just out of ideas and doesn't know what to do. I think they waited before asking for State and Feeb help on this case, they were so damn sure it was the 'Portagee' boyfriend....and then, when it turned out not to be, they started flailing.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi Prisonerohio!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

9. someone got murdered-someone got away-why all the fuss over DNA?

Hope they catch the sick bastard.
After 3 yrs I'd bet he thinks he's in the clear.
Probably thinks he's real slick eh?
So smart maybe he'd like to try his luck again sometime on an unsuspecting victim.

If DNA testing helps find the smartass what's the big deal?
It's not like they are filing all our DNA profiles in a database to use against us in some sort of way.

I do understand that insurance companies would love to do DNA profiles on every citizen so they could save money by not insuring those with traits prone to diseases or disorders but that isn't going to happen in this case.

Hope they catch this person before they strike again.

Getting away with something is positive re-enforcement-
---encouraging the criminal---
Just look at the Rove/Chimp crime family-
-see what happens when these criminals get away with crimes !





.

[Redstone]

10. Ah, night tripper...

Not to sound argumentative, but:

"If DNA testing helps find the smartass what's the big deal?"

Oh, just a little item called the Fourth Amendment.

"It's not like they are filing all our DNA profiles in a database to use against us in some sort of way.

You sure about that? If they come to your house next, are you going to give them a sample?


Redstone

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

14. if I lived in a small town and there was a killer on the loose

yes-
If Homeland Security paid me a visit--no

[AliciaKeyedUp]

15. That's a pretty fine line

I'm afraid it's no in either case for me.

[el_gato]

18. always use fear to justify the imposition of fascism

If you are not willing to give up every last bit of your personal liberty for the sake of your own safety you must be CRAZY or a psychopathic killer!!!!

That is how the logic works and some of us are not that stupid.

[smirkymonkey]

16. It's completely voluntary, and they don't expect to catch the

murderer through the DNA samples, but to narrow down the pool of potential suspects.

However, what if the murderer is not from Truro? Unless there is some kind of other circumstantial evidence indicating that the murderer is a local resident, as opposed to a drifter or someone from another town on the cape, it seems kind of pointless.

[el_gato]

19. there is always a willing apologist for those who will kill freedom

why? beats me.

[VegasWolf]

11. The ACLU should encourage all the men to reject the sampling,

then the police would have more "suspects" than
they can handle.

[saigon68]

13. The Cops can take their Swab and stick it up their own ass

That's what I would tell them

I would also suggest they could solve the crime of who stole all the shrimp from the Awards Luncheon for their Chief and also who stole all the turds the Sewage District's Lagoon too.

[proudbluestater]

17. Another reason why I joined the ACLU! Good on them again!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

20. I had to read this article twice to make sure it was for real.

I'm shocked that they would even attempt something like this. It's insane.

It made no mention what would happen to the DNA records after they tested these people.

It would only make suspects of any male who valued their privacy.

Thank you ACLU, for once again standing up for what's right.

[wicket]

22. kick

:kick:

[KansDem]

23. What about the Mayor? The Police Chief? The Rotarians?

An FBI profile of the killer suggested that he was a local man. In the past week, officers have approached men at the post office and grocery store, asking if they would volunteer a mouth swab for analysis, with a promise that genetic records that do not match will be destroyed. Nearly 200 men have done so happily.

Have these people, and other prominent citizens, been swabbed? Or are they above suspicion due to their "station in life..."

[LostinVA]

24. They did that in my town

There's been a serial rapist on the loose for about seven years, and even though there's a great physical description, they haven't caught him. Oh well... instead, what they did was KNOCK on the door of black guys and "request" DNA swabs. Just random black guys, no matter the age or complexion, or even if they had just moved to town a week ago. The "requests" were framed as an "or else."

This got some national exposure too, and it stopped right after that.

And, I live in a VERY progressive university town.