Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T05:22:03.399Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Communitarian Approach: A Viewpoint on the Study of the Legal, Ethical and Policy Considerations Raised by DNA Tests and Databases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Amitai Etzioni
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This article seeks to outline a viewpoint on the study of the legal, ethical and policy considerations raised by DNA tests and databases (from here on, DNA usages). It does not delve into the specifics involved. It outlines a way of thinking that has proven productive elsewhere1 and seems promising in dealing with DNA usages in the United States, but little more. Given that this essay is about a communitarian approach that draws on specific communitarian values, I turn next to briefly present the approach here followed.

Communitarianism is a social philosophy that maintains that society should articulate what is good, and asserts that such articulations are both necessary and legitimate. Communitarianism is often contrasted with classical liberalism, a philosophical position that holds that individuals should formulate their idea of good on their own. Communitarians examine the ways shared conceptions of the good (values) are formed, transmitted, justified, and enforced.

Type
Symposium
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , Summer 2006 , pp. 214 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

See Etzioni, A., The Moral Dimension (New York: The Free Press, 1988), and Etzioni, A., How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom versus Security in the Age of Terrorism (New York: Routledge, 2004).Google Scholar
For a fuller description of this kind of communitarianism, see Etzioni, A., The New Golden Rule (New York: Basic Books, 1996).Google Scholar
Id.Google Scholar
For more on this point, see Etzioni, A., How Patriotic is the Patriot Act? supra note 1.Google Scholar
For further examples of such warrantless, suspicionless searches that have been ruled permissible under the Fourth Amendment, see Froomkin, M., “The Metaphor is the Key: Cryptography, the Clipper Chip, and the Constitution,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 143 (1995): 824–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
For more on this point, see Etzioni, A., How Patriotic is the Patriot Act? supra note 1.Google Scholar
See Etzioni, A., The Moral Dimension, supra note 1.Google Scholar
See Rosen, J., “A Watchful State,” The New York Times Magazine, October 7, 2001, at 38ff. Also, Rosen, J., The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age (New York: Random House, 2004).Google Scholar
Jost, K., “DNA Databases,” The CQ Researcher 9, no. 20, May 28, 1999. Available at <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1999052800> (last visited February 16, 2006).Google Scholar
Romano, L., “When DNA Meets Death Row, It's the System That's Tested,” The Washington Post, December 12, 2003, at A1.Google Scholar
Flynn, K., “Fighting Crime with Ingenuity, 007 Style: Gee-Whiz Police Gadgets get a Trial Run in New York,” New York Times, March 7, 2000, at B1.Google Scholar
Interview: Dr. Paul Ferrara, Director of Virginia Division of Forensic Science, “Discusses Gathering of DNA Evidence,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, July 27, 2000.Google Scholar
It has been widely documented that eyewitness accounts are unreliable. As Justice Brennan wrote in his opinion in United States v. Wade, “The vagaries of eyewitness identification are well known; the annals of criminal law are rife with instances of mistaken identification.” Wells, Gary L. and Seelau, Eric P. summarize findings regarding eyewitness identification: “Although there is no way to estimate the frequency of mistaken identification in actual cases, numerous analyses over several decades have consistently shown that mistaken eyewitness identification is the single largest source of wrongful convictions.” Wells, G. L. and Seelau, E. P., “Eyewitness Identification: Psychological Research and Legal Policy on Lineups,” Psychology, Public Policy and Law 1, no. 4 (1995): 765–791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Even this cannot be assumed with full confidence given that in a few instances rapists have intentionally left other people's semen behind.Google Scholar
National Public Radio, “Crime Labs under Scrutiny around the US for Producing Evidence that Wrongly Convicts People for Felonies,” Weekend Edition, May 12, 2001.Google Scholar
The Office of the Inspector General reported that FBI employee Jacqueline Blake falsified lab documents. The report also lists and explains several vulnerabilities in the FBI lab's protocol and practice. Office of the Inspector General, The FBI DNA Laboratory, A Review of Protocol and Practice Vulnerabilities, May 2004. Available at <http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0405/index.htm> (last visited February 10, 2006). (last visited February 10, 2006).' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=The+Office+of+the+Inspector+General+reported+that+FBI+employee+Jacqueline+Blake+falsified+lab+documents.+The+report+also+lists+and+explains+several+vulnerabilities+in+the+FBI+lab's+protocol+and+practice.+Office+of+the+Inspector+General,+The+FBI+DNA+Laboratory,+A+Review+of+Protocol+and+Practice+Vulnerabilities,+May+2004.+Available+at++(last+visited+February+10,+2006).>Google Scholar
Cowan, R. and Hencke, D., “Row over ‘blank’ CCTV tapes at station,” The Guardian, August 23, 2005, at 8.Google Scholar