Massachusetts Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe wins the first in my sporadic new series of Scary Idiot of the Day (SIOD) awards. Why?
Well, in an attempt to jump start a murder investigation, police in Truro, Massachusetts, have been asking male residents to voluntarily submit a DNA sample:
Police in Truro, Massachusetts, are seeking genetic thumbprints from nearly 800 men who live in the quiet seaside hamlet hopes of solving the murder of Christa Worthington, a fashion writer.
Worthington's body was discovered Jan. 6, 2002, at her Truro home with her 2-year-old toddler, Ava, at her side. A $25,000 reward has so far failed to yield her killer.
In a bid to jump-start the investigation, police have begun asking Truro's male residents to voluntarily produce DNA samples -- collected by swabbing inside the mouth -- to help find a match for the semen that was found on Worthington's body.
The New York Times reported Monday that police are approaching men in public with the request, and have announced that they will closely watch those who refuse. Authorities also say they may expand the drive to neighboring communities, the Times said. [emphasis mine]
OK, so the police request here is stupid and scary enough. As Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said in a statement, "There are many legitimate privacy reasons why an innocent person may not agree to a DNA test."
But it was O'Keefe's response to the ACLU's request that local police stop the "DNA dragnet" that earns him the first SIOD:
"I don't tell the ACLU what to do and I don't expect them to tell us what's appropriate in a homicide investigation," he said. He declined to comment further on the investigation.
This total non sequitur is meant to be an official's argument for why he's refusing a request to stop a highly controversial, possibly unconstitutional* search? He doesn't "tell the ACLU what to do" so...?
Well Go-o-o-o-o-o-lly, Mr. DA, sir. That sure 'nuff ought to settle the issue then. Clearly your argument is all the ACLU should need to content itself that its mission to protect the civil liberties of the citizens of Truro, Massachusetts, has been fulfilled. Thanks for the eloquent simplicity with which you settled the matter.
For those of you who, like me, were perhaps not totally convinced by Mr. O'Keefe's logic, the ACLU spelled out the issue in a bit more depth:
In a letter to local prosecutors and police, [the ACLU] urged a halt to the "DNA dragnet," calling it a "serious intrusion" on personal privacy.
The letter raised questions about the possibility that samples may be entered into a state or federal DNA database without donors' knowledge or consent and questioned whether the effort would be worth the cost, which it estimated at $80,000.
Moreover, the letter cited a University of Nebraska study [pdf file] released last year that concluded that DNA sweeps of possible criminal suspects are "extremely unproductive."
To be clear, that study recommends the following:
It is recommended that law enforcement agencies not conduct DNA sweeps based on general descriptions or profiles of criminal suspects.
*As Rose noted, "This is a particularly insidious form of coercion because it attaches a penalty to the assertion of one's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches."
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Clearly it's going to be hard to choose from the field of many very qualified candidates for future SIODs, so feel free to email me recommendations. And, please note, any recommendation including myself or fellow bloggers or commentators on ObWi will be given all the attention I can allot them in 1/100,000,000th of a nanosecond. ;-p.
Drat, you beat me to this one. This is investigative technique gone so wrong.
Posted by: Sebastian Holsclaw | January 10, 2005 at 06:19 PM
The Al Pachino "wannabe", Disctrict Attorney Michael O'Keefe certainly is an idiot but he doesn't scare me. He was so convinced the Worthington was killed by an x-lover, he wouldn't even look further than that. Getting those DNA samples from every man in town without even checking any of their backgrounds was simply a way of pretending to do the DA's job at the taxpayers expense.
Posted by: Barbara Briggs | April 15, 2005 at 09:50 PM