Then it becomes positive, anti-discrimination tool rather than a racial profiling tool.

Would that work with these morons?

The earth IS the center of the Universe!

Man CANNOT fly!

MAN is causing global warming!

yeah, whatever….

In the summer of 2002, the FBI, the Baton Rouge Police Department, and several other agencies began a massive search for a serial killer suspected of murdering three women. Based on an FBI profile and an eyewitness report, they upended southern Louisia…

(Yeah, yeah, I saw that SVU episode, too. Comment still stands.)

Clayton says he dislikes anything that implies we don’t all “bleed the same blood.”

Color me shocked…he doesn’t “like” something. Awwww the poor sensitive baby.

Does this man not understand that we do not all bleed the same blood? Has he not heard of BLOOD TYPE?

We’re not talking about racial profiling here, but hard science that helps solve crimes.

I totally get your point… but I have to say, we WERE talking about racial profiling… when the race was “white”:

collecting DNA from more than 1,000 Caucasian males.

Can you imagine if those 1,000 were black? Can you imagine the marches that the shakedown brothas Jackson and Sharpton would have held? Can you imagine the riots in cities across the country. But 1,000 white guys give samples and nobody screams “racial profiling!!!” Because in reality, it’s criminal profiling, based on circumstantial evidence that they had before the science was in. Just like we need to scrutinize middle eastern looking and clearly Muslim passengers at the airports, based on the criminal profile of jihadists. Doesn’t mean we pretend there aren’t Adam Gadahns out there, but it’s irresponsible to not profile criminals.

It will have to be stamped out just like DDT…

Paris Hilton?

Zing!

PierreLegrand on January 2, 2008 at 1:12 PM

It’s not so much that they didn’t believe the differences existed as they didn’t believe we could detect them yet. Anyone with a basic understanding of DNA (sorry OJ jury) can deduce that there is not merely a difference between blacks/whites/asians/blondes/brunettes ad infinitum, but between every single individual. If some things are in common, there has to be a common thread, which means that at some point the analysis has to be good enough to figure it out. The question is, when. It turned out that 2003 was the year someone figured out which genes governed “race” (more likely pigmentation level and a statistical analysis of which part of the world typically contained a certain active gene). That some fool in the court system doesn’t want this technology because it upsets his “it’s a small world” mentality is truly sad.

After all, I thought we were supposed to celebrate diversity!

And those folks are idiots. Anyone with a middle school science education knows there are genetic differences between blacks and whites. Just like there are genetic differences between blonds and brunettes, between a person with blue eyes and a person with brown eyes, between a male and a female.

Not sure I understand what you are saying? Did you read the article? Notice that the police didn’t actually believe that there was a difference between blacks and whites. The researcher had to prove that he could see the difference.

DNA profiling has been around for about 20 years now.

Apparently not profiling of races…because as the quote I provided in my first comment shows scientists did not believe it.

But, if a man refused to volunteer when asked, would he then be considered a suspect and would that then be a basis for a warrant to be issued?

Not likely. If police weren’t able to get a warrant for these 1,000 men, refusal wouldn’t give them enough evidence to change that judge’s mind. Refusal doesn’t equal probable cause.

If a person refuses to take a lie detector test, is that a consideration if law enforcement requests a warrant?

It wouldn’t make sense if it were. Lie detector tests are not legally considered accurate, so legally an innocent person has every reason to refuse to take one.

Plus, it doesn’t work the other way. Innocent people who “prove” their innocence with a lie detector test are treated no differently than those who never took a lie detector test.

Clayton is a good prosecutor and I don’t understand why he would want this technology to go away.

roux on January 2, 2008 at 12:43 PM

It seems that he just wishes there were no difference between a black person’s blood and a white person’s blood.

The reason this is so explosive is that for the longest time folks have been saying there are NO genetic differences between blacks and whites. Along comes this test and lo and behold there is…pretty explosive.

And those folks are idiots. Anyone with a middle school science education knows there are genetic differences between blacks and whites. Just like there are genetic differences between blonds and brunettes, between a person with blue eyes and a person with brown eyes, between a male and a female.

Either those 1,000 men gave up their DNA without a warrant in order to clear themselves of a horrible crime, or their DNA was taken with a warrant.

Either way, there’s nothing scary about a police state issue here. Their DNA wasn’t taken randomly. If the men choose to give up their DNA, then they did so because proving their innocence otherwise was less important to them than getting the case over with quickly. If a warrant was issued, then the judge who issued the warrant felt enough evidence had been gathered to implicate those 1,000 men.

The latter is unlikely, which means those men allowed their DNA to be taken and stored.

Esthier on January 2, 2008 at 12:32 PM

But, if a man refused to volunteer when asked, would he then be considered a suspect and would that then be a basis for a warrant to be issued? If a person refuses to take a lie detector test, is that a consideration if law enforcement requests a warrant? I realize lie detector tests aren’t admissible in court, but can they be used as a lever?

The reason this is so explosive is that for the longest time folks have been saying there are NO genetic differences between blacks and whites. Along comes this test and lo and behold there is…pretty explosive

DNA profiling has been around for about 20 years now.

I know a guy that was on the task force. Immediately after finding the link they issued a warrant to obtain Derrick Todd Lee’s DNA. They had previously dismissed any evidence looking at a non-white male. The police blew this investigation and stopped letting the evidence lead them to the killer.

Clayton is a good prosecutor and I don’t understand why he would want this technology to go away.

Alan R. Templeton, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts and Sciences, has analyzed DNA from global human populations that reveal the patterns of human evolution over the past one million years. He shows that while there is plenty of genetic variation in humans, most of the variation is individual variation. While between-population variation exists, it is either too small, which is a quantitative variation, or it is not the right type of qualitative variation — it does not mark historical sublineages of humanity.

Using the latest molecular biology techniques, Templeton has analyzed millions of genetic sequences found in three distinct types of human DNA and concludes that, in the scientific sense, there is no such thing as race.

“Race is a real cultural, political and economic concept in society, but it is not a biological concept, and that unfortunately is what many people wrongfully consider to be the essence of race in humans — genetic differences,” Templeton said. “Evolutionary history is the key to understanding race, and new molecular biology techniques offer so much on recent evolutionary history. I wanted to bring some objectivity to the topic. This very objective analysis shows the outcome is not even a close call: There’s nothing even like a really distinct subdivision of humanity.”

I dunno. What happens to the DNA data base collected on the innocents who were screened? Or is this one of those, “If you haven’t done anything wrong, it should’nt bother you” kind of deals like the cop who just wants to look through your car without a warrant?

a capella on January 2, 2008 at 11:40 AM

Either those 1,000 men gave up their DNA without a warrant in order to clear themselves of a horrible crime, or their DNA was taken with a warrant.

Either way, there’s nothing scary about a police state issue here. Their DNA wasn’t taken randomly. If the men choose to give up their DNA, then they did so because proving their innocence otherwise was less important to them than getting the case over with quickly. If a warrant was issued, then the judge who issued the warrant felt enough evidence had been gathered to implicate those 1,000 men.

The latter is unlikely, which means those men allowed their DNA to be taken and stored.

As far as the car issue is concerned, there’s nothing wrong with refusing to allow your car to be searched. It doesn’t implicate you in a crime and isn’t at all unwise.

“Had it not been for Frudakis, we would still be looking for the white guy in the white pickup.”

So are they looking for a white guy in a black pickup now?