22nd Annual Student Research Conference
The DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000: A Case Study in the Application of a Policy Making Model
Sarah E. Felts
Dr. Randy Hagerty, Faculty Mentor
The DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 was passed and signed into law to solve two main problems: the growing backlog of DNA samples from crime scenes and criminals needing to be analyzed and entered into the nationwide DNA database known as CODIS, and a loophole that excluded federal, military and District of Columbia offenders from this database. Pressure from actors within the forensic science community, both governmental agencies and interest groups as well as pressure from politicians who had witnessed the effectiveness of CODIS, placed this issue on the Congressional agenda. This paper examines the details of the formulation of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to see how each assumption of Graham Allison's Governmental Politics model does or does not apply.
Keywords: public policy, DNA database, policy formulation
Topic(s):Political Science
Justice Systems
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 52-4
Location: OP 2115
Time: 3:30