State Rep. Brady sponsors DNA bill

Posted on January 23, 2015

State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) has sponsored a bill to require coroners to collect, dry, and freeze DNA samples from homicide victims. (WJBC file photo)

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

BLOOMINGTON – The DNA database could grow, and, with it, the number of criminal cases which can be cleared off the books, under a bill sponsored by a former county coroner who is a state legislator.

“In a case of a homicide death, the coroner would be responsible to provide … specimens from the body at the time of autopsy,” says State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), “and those samples would be dried and used for the purpose of submitting to the DNA index system for a laboratory's testing.”

Brady says this would be helpful if, for example, the deceased person were suspected in other cases.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…