Last year, police used DNA from an infant’s blood sample to track down a sex crime suspect in New Jersey. The problem, according to the New Jersey State Office of the Public Defender, is that the blood sample was obtained through a mandatory newborn health-screening program used to check for metabolic and genetic disorders, not criminal investigations — and without parental consent.
Now the public defender’s office is suing the state to find out just how often law enforcement agencies have used similar infant blood samples to support their work. Jennifer Sellitti, director of training and communications at the public defender’s office, discusses the issue.
