By Ju-Hyun Yoo
Abstract:
Over fifty years ago, Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old young black male, was found wrapped in barbed wire in a river in Mississippi. Although two white men were arrested in 1955 for his murder, they were later acquitted because members of an all-white jury did not believe that the body found in the river was Emmett Till. It was not until 2004, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation reopened its investigation into the murder, that a DNA analysis later confirmed that the body was, in fact, Emmett Till. Justice was finally served.
In the United States, DNA forensics, or the science of identifying people by their DNA, has become an indispensable criminal justice tool as it helps to identify criminals, victims’ remains, and vindicate those who were wrongly convicted, including some awaiting execution. However, despite the positive contributions of DNA technology, it has also raised significant questions involving ethical, social, and legal issues that mostly concern civil liberties. This note will evaluate the development of DNA databases, and examine the advantages and problems of expanding DNA databases for criminal cases in general.