Prisoners to undergo DNA tests

With a new federal law set to come in next month, as many as 21-hundred prisoners in Canada may face DNA tests in an effort to link them to other, outstanding crimes. A spokesperson for Corrections Canada says a memo says the samples will be taken under the law expected to be proclaimed in June. The memo, obtained by a Vancouver newspaper, says bodily substances, likely blood, will be taken from dangerous offenders, or those convicted of more than one murder or sex crime. Under the new law, all newly convicted offenders will be required to give a sample under the DNA Identification Act. The new DNA data bank will be administered by the RCMP lab in Ottawa.

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), May 04, 2000