DNA of Criminals: Kinship Analysis - Should Close Relatives Be Profiled?

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© Karen Lotter
Jun 16, 2008

Should close relatives of criminals be DNA profiled or is it a violation of civil liberties? Will kinship analysis aid the criminal justice system or abuse human rights?

Earlier this year, in Science Daily, Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, voiced his concerns over the ethics of a DNA database. One of the issues that concerned him was whether close relatives of criminals should be profiled. . . .

The rest of this article discusses the ethical ramifications of using DNA from innocent family members to convict criminals. It presents two prominent cases in which this was a successful strategy for law enforcement members.

Genealogists can adapt this type of strategy as well; when one doesn't have the DNA of the person of interest to one's research, one can find a "surrogate" by seeking DNA from other family members.

Louisiana Genealogical Journals

The Advocate and Channel 2 WBRZ News at 2theadvocat.com (Baton Rouge, Louisiana); 2theadvocate.com:

Louisiana’s genealogy magazines outstanding
By DAMON VEACH
Special to Magazine; Published: Jun 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.


"Louisiana has long been noted for some of the finest genealogical societies in the country, and these groups, in turn, each have outstanding publications that are included with membership fees. This is not only characteristically true for the larger groups, but even the smaller societies are coming up with some excellent and previously unpublished materials." . . .

A listing of journals and examples of articles from those journals are contained in the remainder of this article.