Genes and The Law
Janet C. Hoeffel, in The Law Stanford Law Review (Jan. 1990), Stanford, Calif. 94305.
Police and prosecutors rejoiced in 1987 when DNA "fingerprinting" was intro-duced in the nation's courts. "If you're a criminal," one DNA analyst boasted, "it's like leaving your name, address, and social security number at the scene of the crime. It's that precise."
Far from it, retorts Hoeffel, a Stanford law student. DNA fingerprinting is danger- ously inexact.
Unfortunately,...