HARRISBURG, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — Lawmakers in Harrisburg debated a bill Thursday that would expand Pennsylvania’s DNA Index to require a cheek swab of anyone arrested for a serious violent, or sexual crime, including lesser crimes like public exposure, theft, false imprisonment, and simple assault.
The State House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from both sides of Bucks County Senator Frank Farry’s bill.
DNA Justice Project founder Ashley Spence told the committee that seven years after a man broke into her apartment and raped, tortured, and nearly killed her, he was caught trying to break into a home in California.
“California is one of 19 states that collects DNA for every single felony arrest,” she said. “They uploaded his DNA into our national DNA database, CODIS, and it hit a match back to mine and multiple others across state lines.”
John Roman with the University of Chicago’s Center on Public Safety and Justice said similar to fingerprints, the cheek swabs would greatly expand law enforcement’s ability to solve crimes.
“The available evidence supports expanding eligibility criteria for inclusion in CODIS to improve public safety, reduce disparities, and facilitate more just outcomes,” he said.
Roman said DNA collection is more reliable than fingerprint and eye-witness evidence by removing bias and potentially flagging false arrests earlier in the process.
However, Elizabeth Randold with the ACLU argued that even though a narrow 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowed DNA collection on arrest, it doesn’t mean Pennsylvania should follow through.
“Authorizing law enforcement to accumulate genetic data from people without a warrant flies in the face of our most foundational constitutional principles,” she said.
The bill is awaiting a vote in the State Senate before going to the State House.