Media Articles:

Maryland's DNA Databank

by Stephen B. Mercer and William G. McLain

Nov/Dec 2004
Volume XXXVII Number 6

Maryland Bar Journal Website

Screen Savers

Can Grand Old Theaters survive in the age of multiplex?
Featuring Stephen Mercer
By Dan Gilgoff

U.S. News & World Report Magazine

Media

Sixty Minutes aired a piece titled "A Not So Perfect Match" (Lesley Stahl, correspondent; Shari Finkelstein, Producer; Megan Frank, Assistant Producer) Sunday evening, April 1, 2007. In the segment, Stephen B. Mercer, Esq., was interviewed concerning the privacy and civil rights implications of "near-match" or "familial searching" of convicted felon DNA databases. When there is a close match between DNA collected at a crime scene and a convicted offender profile in the DNA database, you know the person in the database didn't commit the crime, but the near match may suggest that a family member did. The Sixty Minutes story covers the controversy surrounding this new development in DNA databasing and its implications on the rights of all Americans.

April 2009

Genetic Surveillance for All

What if the FBI put the family of everyone who has ever been convicted or arrested into a giant DNA database?

Read Jeffrey Rosen’s comprehensive article in Slate Magazine on law enforcement’s expansion of existing DNA databases by placing family members of persons in the databases under genetic surveillance. Stephen Mercer discusses the recent ban on familial searching enacted in Maryland.

http://www.slate.com/id/2213958/

February 2009

Stephen Mercer was a guest on the Kojo Nmadi Show to discuss Forensic Science, Technology and the Courts

They're the building blocks of our criminal justice system: little pieces of evidence like fingerprints, hair and DNA samples. But a new report cites serious flaws in how this evidence is most commonly collected, analyzed and interpreted by law enforcers. Tech Tuesday explores the capabilities and limitations of forensic science, and how new technologies are likely to affect the rule of law. Hear the show at:

http://wamu.org/programs/kn/09/02/24.php#24814

January 2009

Maryland DNA Rules

A new law went into effect January 1, 2009 -- allowing police to take DNA swabs of people accused of -- but not yet convicted of violent crimes and weapons charges. The Kojo Nmadi Show looks at the controversy over the new law, and how it might affect both criminals and citizens throughout Maryland. Senator Jamin Raskin, State’s Attorney John McCarthy, and Stephen Mercer are featured guests.

Listen to the segment at:
http://wamu.org/programs/kn/09/01/05.php#24429