Genetic Justice

November 1, 2010
Our ongoing fascination with TV forensics dramas has brought DNA into daily conversation. Krimsky and Simoncelli reach beyond pop culture to discuss how obtaining and using DNA has become common in criminal investigations. They discuss the civil-rights concerns raised by dragnets, in which DNA is obtained from hundreds (or thousands) of people in an effort to match to a crime, including the often surreptitious acquiring of DNA from family members of suspected persons. Another focus is courtroom cases in which DNA is erroneously claimed to provide a match. The experiences of Innocence Project legal volunteers are highlighted because they use DNA samples to set free wrongly convicted inmates, often fighting the system to do so. These are the most troubling passages, revealing how prosecutors prize DNA in some instances, only to largely ignore it in others. Firmly grounded in science, this inquiry proves that while DNA can be dramatic in its disclosures, it is not to be used lightly, as is? so often depicted in crime stories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)