Womer Benjamin's bill targets repeat offenders
Technological advances have given law enforcement new tools to fight crime. A bill sponsored by Ohio Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora, and signed into law by Gov. Bob Taft last week, expands the list of crimes for which DNA testing of those convicted is required. Much public attention has been focused on the number of jailed inmates who were released when exculpatory DNA evidence was found. Less well known, but just as significant, are the number of crimes cleared when the DNA of those convicted of other crimes is linked to unsolved cases.
While most Americans support DNA testing of criminals, some civil libertarians oppose what they consider to be the equivalent of an individual's being forced to testify against himself in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. But the taking of fingerprints has long been a standard law-enforcement practice, even when those being finger-printed are only being arrested. Womer Benjamin's bill requires the taking of DNA only from those already convicted of crimes.
Expanded list of crimes
Legislation enacted in 1995 required the collection of DNA samples from inmates convicted of a number of crimes, including aggravated burglary, aggravated murder, felonious sexual penetration and rape. The new law adds to that list aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated murder, attempted murder, burglary, felonious assault and robbery.
Womer Benjamin, the chair of the House Criminal Justice Committee, said she wanted provide the state with more current information in solving crimes. "This legislation will have the very real effect of preventing future criminal acts by helping law enforcement catch repeat offenders earlier,"
And sometimes, the DNA trail that exonerates one person leads to the actual perpetrator.
A U.S. Justice Department report described the case of an Ohio prisoner who was released after a DNA test showed that he could not have been the attacker of a 28-year-old woman who was raped and murdered.
When analysts at the Ohio State crime lab ran a DNA sample from the crime scene through the state's data base of convicted offenders, they found a match in an inmate at the Lebanon Correctional Facility already serving time for the 1983 slaying of another Ohio woman.
The number of inmates convicted on eye-witness testimony but later released when DNA evidence was evaluated shows the significance of scientific data, especially in light of the growing understanding of the unreliability of witnesses.
The more sophisticated forensic investigations become, the greater the likelihood that justice will be done.