Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Patent Law Blogs -> IPBiz

Patent Law

: IPBiz

Supreme Court: 5-4 vote in Osborne DNA case

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

Facts surrounding the Osborne case on the right to DNA testing revealed an odd combination of states that do NOT allow access:

"To suddenly constitutionalize this area would short-circuit what looks to be a prompt and considered legislative response," Roberts said. Alaska, Massachusetts and Oklahoma are the only states without DNA testing laws.

One wonders how Massachusetts, one of the most "liberal" states in the nation is out of step with 47 other states.

Reuters wrote:

Forty-six states and the federal government have laws that give convicts some access to DNA testing, according to the decision. The ruling was a victory for Alaska, one state that does not explicitly allow such testing, along with Alabama, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma.

States opposed to the testing have said it would be costly and would result in unnecessary litigation in cases in which a defendant received a fair trial and there was overwhelming evidence supporting a guilty verdict.

See also

LBE's piece in the UofC Roundtable: Comment: Frye after Daubert: The Role of Scientists in Admissibility Issues As Seen through Analysis of the DNA Profiling Cases

DNA profiling snags animal poachers

DNA analysis shows truth to "switched at birth"

Michigan man (Richard Barnes) scoffs at son's (John Barnes) suspicion he was taken:

John Barnes has long suspected the couple who raised him were not his biological parents(...)

Cheryl Barnes, Richard's daughter, said she was "flabbergasted" by John's claims and was willing to undergo DNA testing to prove they are biological siblings.
"I can't begin to know why he would think this," said Cheryl Barnes, 50. "Everybody in my family thinks John looks just like my dad."

Full post as published by IPBiz on June 18, 2009 (boomark / email).