Bill for Wednesday Vote Includes Schiff Provisions to Improve Law Enforcement Use of Forensic Science
WASHINGTON, DC – The House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday on proposals authored by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) that are included in the Justice for All Act of 2004 (H.R. 5107). The comprehensive criminal justice bill includes provisions similar to legislation that the California lawmaker introduced in April 2003 – the DNA Database Enhancement Act – to increase the scope and use of DNA analysis.
“Under this bill, police across the country will be able to solve many more crimes and take violent felons off the street,” Congressman Schiff said. “By expanding and improving the use of DNA analysis, many cold cases of rape, murder and assault will finally be solved and the offenders brought to justice.”
Specifically, the Schiff provisions will:
· Expand the national DNA database by allowing states to upload lawfully obtained samples: Currently in some states, law enforcement is authorized to collect DNA samples from suspects being charged with violent crimes and other felonies. The uploading of these samples to the states’ databases has yielded tremendous results. For example, Virginia forensic officials made their 1,000th “cold hit” in 2002 by matching a rape suspect to a 2001 sexual assault case. Schiff’s provision in the bill will facilitate crime-solving and information-sharing among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies by permitting a broader class of DNA samples to be included in the national database.
· Maximize law enforcement comparison of DNA samples with the national DNA database: Current law does not provide a mechanism to query and compare DNA samples with the national database. Some states can already do this within their state-wide DNA database, but Schiff’s measure will expand this capability and allow such search capabilities nationally. Law enforcement will now have the ability to “keyboard search” lawfully obtained samples on a case-by-case basis to see if any matches are yielded with the national database. This will maximize the ability of law enforcement to obtain “cold hits” – potentially solving thousands of unsolved murders, rapes and other crimes.
Passed by the House Judiciary Committee last week, H.R. 5107 also includes the Innocence Protection Act that enables wrongfully prosecuted people to access DNA testing, ensures proper legal representation in capital crime cases and provides grants to improve forensic technology. H.R. 5107 also includes the “Debbie Smith Act” that authorizes funds to eliminate the backlog of untested DNA evidence from rape kits. Congressman Schiff is an original co-sponsor of H.R. 5107.
Congressman Schiff is a former federal prosecutor, the co-founder of the Democratic Study Group on National Security and a member of both the House Judiciary and International Relations committees. He represents California’s 29th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City.