On November 18, 2010, US Attorney General Eric Holder instructed federal prosecutors to use DNA evidence as much as possible, in a reversal of Bush administration policy. In his press release, Holder stated that "these new steps will ensure the department can use DNA to the greatest extent possible to solve crimes." Holder's statements dovetailed with a program implemented by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in February 2007 to collect DNA from the majority of suspects arrested by federal agents — and expanded to include all federal arrestees in April 2008. The policy shift also came one month after the Supreme Court heard arguments in Skinner v. Switzer, a case dealing with prisoners' rights to have access to possibly exculpatory DNA testing.

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