Legislators put new DNA collection regulations on hold

By Len Lazarick
Examiner Staff Writer 9/5/08

Lawmakers have put a temporary hold on proposed rules that implement a new law requiring wider collection of DNA samples from those arrested after black legislators and civil rights groups protested the rules.

“We’ve slowed it down to do some review,” said Sen. Paul Pinsky, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review. The committee can hold up implementation of proposed regulations for 60 days.

“I’m hoping that if it needs a little tweaking, we can work this out,” Pinsky said. “Right now we have legal counsel looking at them.”

The Maryland State Police published proposed regulations Aug. 1, but members of the Legislative Black Caucus, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union strenuously objected. They said the proposals did not reflect changes made in the law proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley after intense negotiations over the controversial bill in the last legislative session.

“I feel we need to go back and clarify any issues that are at hand,” said Sen. Verna Jones, who chaired the Black Caucus at the time. “Everything needs to be aboveboard. The [State Police were] not at the negotiating table.”

Cynthia Boersma of the ACLU said the most significant problem with the regulations is their “failure to protect the civil rights” of people arrested before they are charged. The regulations do not implement the law as written, Boersma said. For instance, the group said the proposed rules restrict the role of attorneys, “invite the use of force” and do not ensure destruction of DNA samples if the person charged is acquitted or released.

Kristen Mahoney, a lawyer who heads the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, said the regulations were written as part of “a really thoughtful process” and implement the law as signed by the governor.

“There is no way that these regulations will ever satisfy the ACLU,” Mahoney said. “We have a philosophical difference on the use of this crime-fighting tool. They don’t like the law, they’ve never liked the law,” but the legislation still passed.

“They are beginning to attempt to taint the jury pool about the science of DNA,” Mahoney said.

The Black Caucus hopes to set up a meeting with members of the governor’s staff to discuss changes in the proposed regulations.
llazarick@baltimoreexaminer.com

0 Comments