Professor Joh Cited in Fusion on DNA Databases
Scholarship by Professor Elizabeth Joh is cited in an article in Fusion regarding the difficulties individuals face as they attempt to remove their DNA from law enforcement databases. The article quotes from Professor Joh's "The Myth of Arrestee DNA Expungement," published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 2015.
Most states collect a genetic sample from anyone arrested for a felony, and if that person is not ultimately convicted of a crime, they have the right to have their DNA expunged from the database. But in most states, the process for doing so is "burdensome, costly, and must be initiated by the arrestee. Consequently, very few arrestees eligible for DNA expungement--because they were never charged or because their charges were dismissed--actually have their genetic profiles removed," writes Joh.
Professor Joh's scholarship focuses on criminal procedure and policing, with a special emphasis on DNA evidence, undercover policing, and new surveillance technologies.