Last November, California voters passed a $3 billion proposition, fondly known as Prop. 71, to fund stem cell research. Another science-related proposition passed at the same time, but without the worldwide media attention. That measure, Prop. 69, authorized a huge expansion of California's forensic DNA database.
Effective immediately, law enforcement workers will collect DNA samples from all adult and juvenile felons, not just violent offenders. And by 2009, every adult arrested in California on suspicion of a felony or certain misdemeanors – convicted or not – will have to provide cheek-swab samples for analysis. California is not alone. Prop 69 is just one of the most recent examples of the move in the United States to make DNA databases more comprehensive. All 50 states have long required felons convicted of murder or sex crimes to forfeit a DNA sample, but now the trend is to go beyond registering only violent ...
