After an 8 hour filibuster, Nebraska lawmakers gave first round approval to a bill that would require people who are charged with a violent crime to give a DNA sample at the time of arrest. The current law collects DNA samples once a person is convicted.
Nebraska State Senator Robert Hilkemann introduced the bill. He says, “It helps solve unsolved crimes. It has exonerated people who have spent years in prison falsely accused. And one of the big is it often times gets serial criminals discovered sooner, the repeat offenders. I stress this is for the most violent felonies this bill is in place.”
Senator Hilkemann says if 31 states do this, we need to do this in Nebraska.
The bill was met by opposition. State Senator Justin Wayne said, “Filibuster is for bills that have deep concerns for the community. In this particular case, this isn’t for the most violent crimes. This is for any felony.” He says the federal government will keep that DNA sample unless a person is found not guilty or are pardoned. He says others will have costly court expenses to get their DNA information out of the federal system.
Lawmakers voted Wednesday to end the filibuster and vote on the bill. It advanced with a vote of 30-11.