Genetic Standing: The Constitutionality of Familial DNA Searching on Genealogical Research Databases
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SPRING 2019
COURTS & JUSTICE
LAW JOURNAL
GENETIC STANDING: THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF FAMILIAL
DNA SEARCHING ON GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH DATABASES
Emily M. Strak*
INTRODUCTION
In Carpenter v. United States, the United States Supreme Court
recognized that the nation's cell phone service accounts exceed its
population.1 Comparably, the consumer market for genetic testing is
climbing rapidly.2 In 2017, the most popular direct-to-consumer3 genetic
testing company, Ancestry.com, completed genetic testing on four million
* Emily Strak is a rising 3L at Regent University School of Law. I would like to thank
my faculty advisor, James Duane, for his expert guidance throughout the writing process.
I would also like to thank my husband, Mark, and my two young sons, Mason and Matthew,
who encourage me each and every day.
1 138 S. Ct. 2206, 2211 (2018) (There are 396 million cell phone service accounts in
the United States-for a Nation of 326 million people.)
2 Heather Murphy, Most White Americans'DNA can be Identified Through Genealogy
Databases, N.Y. TIES (Oct. 11, 2018),
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/1 1/science/science-genetic-genealogy-study.html
[hereinafter Murphy, Genealogy Databases].
3 Direct-to-consumer, also known as direct selling, is where manufacturers or
producers bypass a wholesaler and sell directly to the consumer. Direct Selling, MERRIAM-
WEBSTER.COM, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/direct%/2Oselling (last
visited Feb. 9, 2019).
VOLUME: I
ISSUE: I](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cjlj1&div=6&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
Genetic Standing: The Constitutionality of Familial DNA Searching on Genealogical Research Databases
Genetic Standing: The Constitutionality of Familial DNA Searching on Genealogical Research Databases