Search Results for: DNA testing

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 41, Genetic Information Privacy Act, into law on Wednesday, requiring direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies to provide information and obtain consumers’ express consent regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of genetic data. “At-home DNA tests have provided people with the ability to seek meaningful connections to long-lost family or their [...]

The Supreme Court of India ruled Friday that a forced DNA test violates the right to privacy and personal liberty. The decision came in a property dispute, wherein the plaintiff claimed to be the son of late Trilok Gupta and late Sona Devi. He filed a lawsuit, naming the daughters of Trilok Gupta and Sona [...]

“All narrative of the past implies a selection. Memory is selective; complete memory is impossible.” – Elizabeth Jelin In September 2020, the Spanish Government introduced the “Democratic Memory Law” through its Democratic Memory Act (“The Act”), which is an extension of the Historical Memory Act of 2007 to honor the victims of General Francisco Franco’s [...]

The US Supreme Court stayed the execution of Texas inmate Ruben Gutierrez Tuesday. The order came only an hour before the execution was scheduled to take place and was granted in response to Gutierrez’s argument that his First Amendment rights were violated by the state’s refusal to grant his request to have a Christian chaplain [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday granted a stay of execution for Ruben Gutierrez, a Texas death row inmate who was scheduled to die next week. Gutierrez has continually maintained his innocence in the 1998 murder of Escolastica Harrison when Gutierrez was 20. Harrison reportedly did [...]

COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus has emerged as a global threat that has changed the world order and has challenged all the predetermined notions of societal existence. This is the point in history that will be studied in the future for the decisions made with respect to preserving human dignity and the principles of equity [...]

Sometimes, it takes a crisis to make a change. Especially for the legal profession, which is notoriously allergic to change, no matter how necessary. For decades, the legal profession has debated how and why to evaluate attorneys before admitting them to the bar. But it looks like the COVID-19 pandemic may finally force its hand. [...]

A Mexican judge issued an arrest warrant for Tomas Zerón, the former head of investigations for the Attorney General’s Office, and five other former officials on Wednesday for alleged violations in the investigation of the case of 43 college students who disappeared in 2014. In 2014, 43 college students were seized by police in southern [...]

The Justice Department issued a statement on Friday that it would be amending regulations regarding the collection of DNA from persons detained for immigration violations. In 2005, Congress passed the DNA Fingerprint Act, which granted authorization to the Attorney General to collect DNA samples from persons who have been arrested, charged with a crime, or [...]

For more than 20 years, a key prosecution witness in Maryland criminal proceedings named Joseph Kopera, a firearms expert for the state crime lab, routinely and blatantly lied about his resume, background, qualifications, and other matters. Recently, the Maryland State Police discovered that he also forged signatures on firearms ballistics reports. His testimony was used [...]