http://abc7news.com/dna-that-cracked-golden-state-killer-cas... This article states that the main DNA sites and Ancestry.com didn't release the information, so I'm curious about where it came from as well. Though it does say they'll comply with 'valid legal requests' it also says they weren't contacted.
There are public databases that allow you to specify your DNA haploids and will show you matches. I linked to one in another comment. They likely used that specific site, although there are other sites that provide the same functionality.
Arrest isn't conviction, so it's a good thing that officers don't always act like they're putting away a killer (and that the accused don't always act like they're about to be put away for life.)
Arrest isn't conviction, but since the topic here is DNA it's worth noting that in California you can have your DNA taken against your will and put into a database when you get arrested even if you're never convicted or even charged with a crime.
Further, in California and most other states, a 'fetal blood spot' is taken from every newborn and tested for a variety of genetic diseases, and the spot is retained in some state filing cabinet (or refrigerator?) somewhere. See an older comment for details & links:
Just as there was a state proposition (sponsored by the relatives of one of this killer's victims) to expand DNA-testing of criminal suspects, a future policy change could send investigators into those filing cabinets, if the blood DNA isn't too degraded, to do a broad genetic dragnet for criminal suspects (or their relatives).
This would require a warrant, which requires a specific target, not a fishing expedition. The BTK serial killer was caught in similar fashion, police were able to get a warrant for his daughters Pap smear which was stored at a medical facility.
Is that your considered opinion as a legal expert on these matters?
Since proposition 69 (2004), and recently upheld by the Calfornia Supreme Court, California is taking and holding indefinitely DNA for everyone arrested for a felony, even if they're never charged or convicted:
So they get already get 'free look' (no warrant required) at the DNA of anyone alive, via an arrest, even if the charges are ultimately unsupportable. Do you expect a stronger protection would apply against stored records?
Further, the newborn blood spots are already in government custody. There's no essential requirement for any private 3rd party to produce them, against the holder's wishes. Why wouldn't a detective/prosecutor, perhaps emboldened by public opinion or some new Prop-69-like policy, to consider these blood spots 'abandoned' DNA, just like that acquired from this 'Golden State Killer' suspect after surveillance but without a specific warrant?
Is it unlikely that law enforcement would ever get a 'warrant to modern-sequence-all-the-spots', to solve some particularly heinous crime, then retain the data indefinitely, as they already do for other incidental collections? Sure, that sounds to me like a 'general warrant' that should be prohibited by the 4th amendment. But government keeps seeking – and often winning in court! – ever-broader database warrants. (See for example https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/06/1...)
Even the ~80 yes/no genetic disorders automatically tested for, and thus possibly kept in a digital database afterwards, might be enough 'bits' to narrowly pick a few suspects, or uniquely identify a single suspect, in some cases. Would the CA DOJ need a warrant to have a friend at the CA DPH run a SQL query on a database that may already be online?
Can you find any statement from the California Department of Publish Health that they would only release blood spot data to law enforcement with a warrant?
IANAL but from a quick review of some online authorities, maybe it'd apply. It might depend on exactly how the relevant agencies are classified – are they a health clinic themselves? The restrictions might be waiveable administratively for a popular cause, or violations might have no consequences when happening between chummy government agencies. (Who'll prosecute, and what effective penalties/remedies could be applied, if a governor/president commands coordination between two agencies under their control?) And given the trends in broad warrants, I'm not sure a future court wouldn't offer a warrant to sequence-all-the-spots and search for hits with some heinous criminals' samples.
HIPPA expires 50 years after a person dies, perhaps in the future these cards will be sequenced and crimes with DNA can be narrowed down to descendants.
Good point! This mass, automatic screening began in the late 1960s, so for any states that have retained most/all spots since then, millions of samples would become available for sequencing, despite any possible HIPPA limitations… right about now.
There's technically some ability for parents to opt-out of the delivery of the blood spot to the state, by written request before/during the delivery process.
But that's so discouraged, and the normal process is so automatic and hectic, that it's very rare. Few even realize the blood-spot permanent-collection is happening.
There was a proposed bill in 2015 to require signed consent before the collection, but it was defeated. See very end of:
House fires tend to negatively impact the whole community. Not only could such fire spread to other properties, but it would expend fire department resources and quite possibly lower property values in the rest of the neighborhood.
Officers turning off the oven weren't just doing a favor to the killer, but to the whole community.
The suspect would not want their house to catch fire and police officers have a moral duty to prevent fires in their jurisdiction if they are made aware of a fire hazard they can easily mitigate.
I'm finding it very helpful for sticking to my goals. Their blog is a wonderland of productivity research and knowledge, as well. I highly recommend checking it out.
"It’s been several decades since Daniel Bell wrote The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, but his insights have proven prescient. Ever-more-powerful market forces actually undermine the foundations of social stability, wreaking havoc on tradition, religion, and robust civil associations, destroying what conservatives value the most. They create a less human world. They make us less happy. They generate pain."
This articulates the feelings/observations I've been mulling over recently. Also the idea of opiate abusers being a self-selecting group of the "failed" areas of society was something I hadn't thoroughly considered. Very interesting. If opiates caused a more distinct rise in violet crime, would public policy be forced to respond similar to the other drug epidemics? (Though I might argue that those epidemics were just replaced with this one, yielding quieter and more easily ignored victims.)
> ever-more-powerful market forces actually undermine the foundations of social stability, wreaking havoc on tradition, religion, and robust civil associations
Is there an actual example of this? I can't think of a single one.
You could check out the article at top of this page since you’re so close.
Most TV shows or movies have numerous. Have you ever watched TV shows or...
Actually, since these things are so easy to find, I think it’s safe to assume you don’t even know where to start. We could start with your comments for inspiration.
I just copied the very first one in your profile becaue it includes a good start of what an example of this could look like.
“Start your own category, create software for it, then convince everyone that the category is important.”
This sounds like advice on how to navigate a market, which is an effort that will represent our force. There are many economic theories to explain why markets are the best environment to generate useful products. Can you imagine how your advice could lead to a product that is not useful? I can: if the category is not important but you succeed in convincing people that it is, what have we accomplished collectively? Nothing important! That is for sure.
Well, the problem about things like social stability, tradition, religion, and civil associations is they are important.
If your advice is enough to do well in a free-market economy, then that is good for you, and somebody else will do the important things. This is all fine and good assuming somebody else doesn’t fuck up.
But what if somebody else is an HN reader? And what if they come across your revalational advice, and realize they can just convince people things are important instead of doing the important things? They quit the important things.
Now there is nobody tending to important things: social stability, tradition, religion, civil associations which is a sure bet for havoc!
Easy shmeezy. It’s right under your nose if you pay any attention at all. Maybe you are an example yourself. Seems possible.
Society splitting into haves and have nots due to technology, globalization, and a myriad of other things most definitely changes social cohesion. That's just one example, when (if?)people finally start paying attention there will be many more obvious effects.
Let's agree that this is happening. Is there any evidence that this is going to "undermine the foundations of social stability, wreaking havoc on tradition, religion, and robust civil associations"?
People have been saying nasty things since forever. Some even in this thread =) Is there any evidence that it is "wreaking havoc" on our social fabric?
Your lack of responses is due to your posing of the question. Answers to this necessitate length and dependencies. Many earn volumes in the theoretical canon. Go have a look. Otherwise, Q&A is a two-way street.
while that quote is interesting, it also posits progressivism as the culprit, and by allusion, points to conservatism as the solution, but that’s plainly wrong.
it must be taken as a given that change (i.e., progress) will happen. you can thank the 2nd law of thermodynamics for that. so then the perspective must shift from “can we keep the world the same as we imagine it to have been in the past (while ignoring all the bad parts and negative consequences)?” to “how do we deal with a changing world, adapt to it, and focus our efforts toward positive change?” we just don’t get to sit still. life only happens in the gap between order and chaos.
the quote i prefer is
“The oxytocin we experience from love or friendship or orgasm is chemically replicated by the molecules derived from the poppy plant. It’s a shortcut — and an instant intensification — of the happiness we might ordinarily experience in a good and fruitful communal life. It ends not just physical pain but psychological, emotional, even existential pain.”
this articulates a mechanism by which opioid addiction lodges itself in the failed corners of society. so how do we fix that? it’s not by considering addicts criminals. the “war on drugs” experiment has proven that doesn’t work. instead, we need to accept the social responsibility of creating “losers” in the first place. we need to progress to the next level of societal structure that redirects folks back into meaningful and purposeful lives.
i think the stage might be set to move to a kind of globally-aware localism. that is, having people focus on their microcommunities (the 5-10 block radius around where we live in cities, a bit bigger in less dense areas). how do we organize homes, schools, businesses, offices, services, etc. in ways that reinforce our ties to each other rather than two-dimensional celebrities and fantasies of far-off wealth and fame that make you feel like you’re losing? but also use technology to learn from those far-flung places to improve your own lives locally. you only need a few people around you appreciating your efforts to get plenty of oxytocin to forget about the hard opioids.
I would argue that the public school system is the strongest force in weakening "tradition, religion, and robust civil associations." Much of the schooling experience is designed to suppress individuality and encourage conformity to the state's ideals. And of course capitalism (the non-crony type) doesn't really play any role in the public school system.
