Opinion ID: 3040378
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: History and Passage of the DNA Act

Text: In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, authorizing the FBI to establish a national index of DNA samples from convicted federal offenders. See Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796 (Sept. 13, 1994). The FBI exercised this authority by creating the Combined DNA Index System (“CODIS”), a national DNA index.1 In addition, all fifty state legislatures enacted statutes requiring convicted offenders to provide DNA samples for entry into the CODIS system. See H.R. Rep. No. 106-900(I), at 8 (Sept. 26, 2000). Between 1994 and 1996, however, the FBI lacked the authority to include DNA data from federal offenders in the CODIS databank. See id. In 1996, Congress, as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), expressly provided the FBI with authority to include in CODIS all DNA samples taken from federal offenders. See AEDPA § 811(a)(2), Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (April 24, 1996) (providing that the Director of the FBI “may expand the combined [CODIS] to include Federal crimes and crimes committed in the District of Columbia”). At least one member of Congress believed that the 1996 legislation authorized the FBI to begin collecting DNA samples from federal offenders immediately.2 1 CODIS is a national database used by qualified “law enforcement officials to link DNA evidence found at a crime scene with a suspect whose DNA is already on file.” 146 Cong. Rec. S11645, S11647 (daily ed. Dec. 6, 2000) (statement of Sen. Kohl). 2 See 146 Cong. Rec. at S11647 (“We thought we already closed this loophole through 1996 legislation which provides that the FBI ‘may expand the database to include federal crimes . . .,’ but federal officials claim more express authority is necessary. We are not so sure they’re right, but there is no need to wait any longer.”) (statement of Sen. Kohl); id. at S11646 (“[D]uring consideration of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996, [Senator Dewine] proposed a provision under which federal convicted offenders’ DNA would be included in CODIS. Unfortunately, the Department of Justice never implemented this law, though currently all 50 states collect DNA from convicted offenders.”) (statement of Sen. Kohl). 392 UNITED STATES v. REYNARD At some point after the passage of AEDPA, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached the conclusion that the 1996 legislation did not vest it with sufficient authority to collect DNA samples from federal offenders. See H.R. Rep. No. 106900(I), at 9. In December 1998, the FBI requested that Congress enact more explicit statutory authority to allow the FBI to take DNA samples from federal offenders for inclusion in CODIS. See id. On December 19, 2000, Congress passed the DNA Act. The DNA Act requires the United States Probation Office (“Probation Office”) to collect a DNA sample from any probationer, parolee, or supervised releasee “who is, or has been, convicted of a qualifying offense.” 42 U.S.C. § 14135a(a)(2). Bank robbery is a qualifying offense. See id. § 14135a(d)(1)(E). The DNA Act requires cooperation in the collection of DNA as “a condition of . . . probation, parole, or supervised release.” Id. § 14135a(a)(5). The DNA Act punishes with a misdemeanor anyone “who fails to cooperate in the collection of” a DNA sample. Id. Once the sample is taken, the Probation Office gives it to the FBI for analysis and entry into CODIS. See 42 U.S.C. § 14135a(b).