[ExI] dna ethics question

[spike]

>... On Behalf Of BillK
Subject: Re: [ExI] dna ethics question

On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 3:36 PM, spike wrote:
>
>> ...  Would you be willing to join a team to help catch criminals 
> who leave DNA in or on the victim?  
>

>...As I understand it, the police can already do this if they want to...

Indeed not sir.  23 states now require DNA samples from all convicted felons
according to Wiki, but that number might be increasing.  Some states are
still struggling with the 8th amendment issues around this, but I have no
problem there: all states require mugshots and fingerprints.  Why is DNA any
different?  Where does the 8th amendment come in?

There are sub-categories, where some states have voluntary DNA sampling of
those arrested, which makes total sense if the prisoner knows he didn't do
it.  There are states which collect DNA but do not participate in the
Innocence Project, which is aimed more at freeing the wrongly convicted.  I
would like to participate in that too btw.  I would get waaay more joy and
personal satisfaction from freeing an innocent person than in bagging a
perp.


>...All they need is sufficient grounds to get a warrant to get their
suspect's DNA sample processed by 23and Me...

Ja, but each state differs on the definition of "sufficient grounds."  Some
states get DNA from anyone who is booked for any reason, including
non-violent drug charges, whore-mongering, stuff that doesn't really hurt
anyone, so *I do want my extropian friends the THINK carefully* about your
opinion on this, and do state it please.  You are allowed to state split
opinions and that you are personally conflicted on this matter (as I am)
such as they should require DNA samples from anyone who is accused of
violence.  We know how it will play out: most of the perp-database will be
men.  The database will be disproportionately filled with poor and minority,
and it will be based on the local constables' fear rather than reason.
Think it, state it, you are among friends here.

>... They probably haven't bothered so far, as the 23andMe database is not
big enough yet...

On the contrary sir.  Between 23andMe and Ancestry.com, those databases are
approaching a million proles and are growing rapidly.  They would make very
valuable tools for bagging perps.

Regarding your phrase "...haven't bothered..." it isn't that so much, but
rather this is an enormously laborious process.  It needs to be
crowd-sourced.  Governments cannot afford to hire people to do this, and
probably would not do it anyway.  If every violent criminal is caught, you
don't really need many constables, and that could risk causing taxes to go
down.  Perps are the constables' job security.  If you get to be trusted
friends with the cops and hang out with a lot of them, they sometimes
cynically refer to perps as their clients.  {8^D

>...And for your delectation, how about using the 23andMe database to
*predict* who has the genes that are very likely to commit violent crimes?
BillK
_______________________________________________

We already know how to do that: only those beasts with human DNA are likely
to commit violent crimes.

spike