Forensic Familial and Moderate Stringency DNA Searches Policies and Practices in the United States, England, and Wales
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SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING Forensic Familial and Moderate Stringency DNA Searches Policies and Practices in the United States, England, and Wales Tepring Piquado, Carl F. Matthies, Lucy Strang, James M. Anderson Prepared for the National Institute of Justice For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR3209 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2019 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface This report documents the policies and procedures of familial DNA searches and moderate stringency searches conducted with local, state, and national databases in the United States, England, and Wales. The overall purpose of the project was to investigate the policy development, associated costs, limitations, and capabilities that DNA testing provides in order to offer relevant insight to criminal justice and law enforcement policymakers and researchers who are interested in the use of DNA testing to solve and deter crime. In this report, we reviewed the relevant literature and interviewed relevant practitioners in the United States, England, and Wales. We administered a survey to local and state DNA database administrators to better understand the characteristics, policies, and practices in the United States. Finally, to help understand the extent that the use of DNA testing including familial and moderate stringency searches and the collection of DNA impinges on groups’ privacy rights, we developed a tool. This research was sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. Justice Policy Program RAND Social and Economic Well-Being is a division of the RAND Corporation that seeks to actively improve the health and social and economic well-being of populations and communities throughout the world. This research was conducted in the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being. The program focuses on such topics as access to justice, policing, corrections, drug policy, and court system reform, as well as other policy concerns pertaining to public safety and criminal and civil justice. For more information, email [email protected]. iii Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iii Figures............................................................................................................................................ vi Tables ............................................................................................................................................ vii Summary ...................................................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ xiv Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ xv 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Background............................................................................................................................................... 1 Local, State, and National DNA Testing Laboratories ......................................................................... 1 Samples Contained in DNA Databases ................................................................................................ 2 Forensic DNA Testing.......................................................................................................................... 2 Familial DNA Searches, Moderate Stringency Searches, and Partial Matches ................................... 3 Legal and Ethical Considerations ......................................................................................................... 4 Utilization of Familial DNA and Moderate Stringency Searches ........................................................ 4 2. Methods....................................................................................................................................... 6 Research Design ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Review of the Literature ....................................................................................................................... 6 SDIS and LDIS Laboratory Survey ...................................................................................................... 6 Qualitative U.S. State Laboratory Interviews ....................................................................................... 7 Qualitative England and Wales Stakeholder Interviews ...................................................................... 7 3. Results ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Review of the Relevant Literature ............................................................................................................ 9 History and Context of DNA Search Policies ...................................................................................... 9 DNA Testing ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Measuring the Effect of DNA Policies ............................................................................................... 11 Legal, Social, and Policy Effects of Expanding Genetic-Based Investigation ................................... 13 International Use of Familial and Moderate Stringency Searches ..................................................... 14 Survey Results ........................................................................................................................................ 15 SDIS Respondent Summary ............................................................................................................... 15 SDIS Laboratory Characteristics ........................................................................................................ 15 SDIS Partial Match/Familial Search Practices ................................................................................... 16 State Matches by Type ....................................................................................................................... 16 Future Changes for SDIS Laboratories .............................................................................................. 17 LDIS Respondent Summary ............................................................................................................... 18 LDIS Laboratory Characteristics ........................................................................................................ 18 LDIS Familial Search and Partial Matches ........................................................................................ 24 Local Matches by Type ...................................................................................................................... 25 iv Future Changes for LDIS Laboratories .............................................................................................. 26 U.S. Interviews ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Moderate Stringency Matches ............................................................................................................ 27 Policies and Procedures ...................................................................................................................... 28 Outcomes ............................................................................................................................................ 31 England and Wales Interview Findings .................................................................................................. 31 History and Context of Familial DNA Testing in England and Wales .............................................. 31 Volume and Purposes of Familial DNA Testing ................................................................................ 31 Familial DNA Search Policies and Practice ......................................................................................