Ruby Howell
Current Event #18
Forensics D-Odd
March 6th, 2020
Murphy, Heather. “Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/golden-state-killer-dna.html.
In the NYT article Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder, Heather Murphy discusses how the Golden State Killer case was solved because of a new criminal investigation technique. This technique has been developed mainly by females who are deeply interested in family history, and it relies on DNA submitted to online genealogy sites. While it has been mainly used as a source of identification for the biological parents of adopted children, there has been a major push for it to be used widely in the field of a criminal investigation. This site has been used by criminal investigators to solve crimes that were previously thought to be unsolvable.
In the Golden State Killer Case, genetic genealogist Dr. Barbara Rae-Venter had uploaded crime scene DNA to her small genealogical research site, GEDMatch. That DNA had added to the family tree data of the Killer’s cousins that had been on the site, which allowed Dr. Barbara Rae-Venter’s team to find a suspect for the case. That suspect turned out to be Joseph DeAngelo, the killer criminal who was responsible for his 26 murders cases, rapes and kidnappings.
Although this technique has been able to solve a multitude of cases that have been unsolved for decades and has been reported as a resounding source of DNA identification, there is a large force of legal backlash from civil rights activists. This resistance towards GEDMatch is because some have reported that they were unaware that their DNA was going to be used as a source for criminal investigation, even though Murphy explains that “GEDMatch discloses that profiles could be used to investigate violent crimes”. Although GEDMatch is a site that clearly states its intentions with its DNA, there have been sites such as FamilyTreeDNA that have been exposed for having secretly worked with the FBI. There have even been laws imposed on certain states within the US regarding DNA databases. One includes Maryland, where the police are forbidden from using DNA databases as a source of identification for suspects, yet it has been reported that in Maryland, “police departments in two counties have done precisely that with GEDMatch.” So while arguments against DNA databases are valid, not all DNA databases are untruthful about their intentions. However, for the companies that have lied, it raises the question about our privacy and human rights about what is ours.
Although this technique has been able to solve a multitude of cases that have been unsolved for decades and has been reported as a resounding source of DNA identification, there is a large force of legal backlash from civil rights activists. This resistance towards GEDMatch is because some have reported that they were unaware that their DNA was going to be used as a source for criminal investigation, even though Murphy explains that “GEDMatch discloses that profiles could be used to investigate violent crimes”. Although GEDMatch is a site that clearly states its intentions with its DNA, there have been sites such as FamilyTreeDNA that have been exposed for having secretly worked with the FBI. There have even been laws imposed on certain states within the US regarding DNA databases. One includes Maryland, where the police are forbidden from using DNA databases as a source of identification for suspects, yet it has been reported that in Maryland, “police departments in two counties have done precisely that with GEDMatch.” So while arguments against DNA databases are valid, not all DNA databases are untruthful about their intentions. However, for the companies that have lied, it raises the question about our privacy and human rights about what is ours.
While I did enjoy this article, I thought that the author did a poor job making a deep connection between the many cases that she was mentioning and the relevance that they had in the main point of the article. I believe that if she were to mention fewer cases but go into more depth about each, it would have made the article much more impactful. Despite her glossing of topics, I do believe that the article is clear and includes a quality background on the topic that builds on the influence of the writing.
4 comments:
Eve Balseiro
Current Event Comment 18
Murphy, Heather. “Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder.” The New York Times,
The New York Times, 25 Apr. 2019,www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/golden-state-killer-dna.html.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4250390869532540972&postID=2538117285373385532
Ruby’s summary and analysis of the article “Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder” from the New York Times is well written and concise. Specifically, there were three aspects that were well done. Firstly, Ruby kept her summary to a perfect length, allowing the reader to digest the information without getting overwhelmed. Secondly, she threw a few quotes in there which allowed her writing to sound better informed. Lastly, Ruby did an excellent job highlighting the author’s mistake when she didn’t bring up the relevance of this article.
To improve, there are two things Ruby should look to do in the future. Firstly, she should connect her article to its importance in the world and the influence the case may have. Secondly, I wish Ruby added more of her own input as I believe it would have added another layer to the analysis.
Overall, Ruby wrote a very well-articulated analysis of this New York Times piece. I furthered my knowledge of the significance DNA evidence has in the world of forensics. It will change my perspective because I now understand how DNA testing can be crucial to a case.
Randy Ayala Valdez
Mr. Ippolito
Forensic Science
March 2020
Murphy, Heather. “Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/golden-state-killer-dna.html.
Ruby wrote a review on the use of DNA testing to solve criminal cases which I thought was very interesting because it has been a recurring topic in class. She incorporates her insight and perspective throughout her “critique” paragraph in a way that encompasses her concerns and thinking on the subject. She provides a sufficient amount of context and details on the case. Providing context enables the reader to understand the concept on a deeper level, exploring scientific aspects of the case.
Although Ruby was able to be concise, her review was a little too simplistic. Doing this provided a very flat and narrow view of the case. She could improve on this by explaining vague concepts and questioning practices that she discusses in the review. Likewise, she presented the case with great detail but failed to wrap up the study, leaving the reader with zero connections. She could have discussed the ways it is sometimes faulty due to the accumulation of DNA and how easy it is for someone to leave DNA at the scene for unrelated reasons.
One thing I was able to take away from this review was the ways DNA analysis could help tie a culprit to a crime scene. This technique is unique because it allows forensic scientists to compare DNA factors and components to those found at the scene.
Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #19
Murphy, Heather. “Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/golden-state-killer-dna.html.
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/03/ruby-howell-current-event-18-forensics.html
Ruby’s review of the article “Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder” was well-written and informative. One well-done aspect was the fact that her summary was very detailed and covered everything that the article discussed. I also thought that the critique was fair and looking back at the original article, I find myself agreeing. Lastly, I appreciated the use of quotes because it makes the review as a whole appear more credible and authentic.
However, I believe that the summary portion might have been a bit long and convoluted and at times I felt as though the transitions between certain points was a bit strange, making it sometimes confusing. Additionally, there were a couple of issues with grammar and formatting, but those can be easily corrected with a proofreading program. Despite these minor errors though, the writing was still enjoyable and insightful.
The article and review enhanced my knowledge on the uses of DNA analysis and how it can help in the field of forensic science. Hearing about these cases and ways the technology has been applied is very intriguing and I hope to learn more about the subject in the future.
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