Legislature(2001 - 2002)
03/19/2001 11:38 AM Senate RLS
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE
March 19, 2001
11:38 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Drue Pearce, Chair
Senator John Cowdery, Vice Chair
Senator Randy Phillips
Senator Gene Therriault
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 77
"An Act repealing the exception that applies to collection and
payment of interest of $150 or less on royalty or net profit share
underpayments and overpayments; and providing for an effective
date."
APPROVED FOR CALENDARING
SENATE BILL NO. 78
"An Act relating to municipal regulation of radio antennas."
APPROVED FOR CALENDARING
SENATE BILL NO. 99
"An Act relating to the DNA identification registration system."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 77 - See Resources minutes dated 2/21/01 and Finance report
dated 3/13/01.
SB 78 - See Community and Regional Affairs minutes dated 3/7/01.
SB 99 - See Judiciary minutes dated 2/28/01 and Finance report
dated 3/14/01.
WITNESS REGISTER
Ms. Juli Lucky
Staff to Senator Halford
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 01-3, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRWOMAN DRUE PEARCE called the Senate Rules Committee meeting to
order at 11:38 a.m. Present were Senators Phillips, Cowdery and
Pearce. She announced that three bills were before the committee:
SB 77, SB 78 and SB 99.
SENATOR COWDERY moved to calendar SB 77-NET PROFIT SHARE
UNDER/OVERPAYMENTS. There being no objection, the motion carried.
SENATOR COWDERY moved to calendar SB 78-MUNICIPAL REGULATION OF
RADIO ANTENNAS and asked for unanimous consent. There being no
objection, the motion carried.
CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE noted that SB 99-DNA REGISTRATION OF BURGLARS
with zero and "asterisked" fiscal notes was before the committee.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked what SB 99 attempts to do and what DNA
identification is applied to at this time.
MS. JULI LUCKY, staff to Senator Halford, the sponsor of SB 99,
replied that SB 99 requires DNA samples to be taken from convicted
burglars. At this point, DNA samples are taken from people who are
convicted of crimes against a person; SB 99 expands the sample take
to convicted burglars.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked what the public policy argument is for SB
99.
MS. LUCKY explained that in 1995, during discussions about the
original legislation, burglary was discussed but that legislation
did not include burglars in the list of offenders from which DNA
samples are taken for Alaska's database. Since that time, studies
done in Great Britain and the states of Virginia and Florida have
shown that a very high percentage of burglars (between 40 and 60
percent, depending on the study) go on to commit violent crimes.
SENATOR PHILLIPS noted that he did not have any information on
those studies in his file.
MS. LUCKY offered to provide him with materials.
CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE announced that Senator Therriault joined the
committee.
SENATOR COWDERY asked what the difference is between a person
convicted of burglary and a felony attempt to convict burglary.
MS. LUCKY said she believes the felony attempt to convict burglary
crime occurs, "if they catch you at the door with the tools, you're
almost in the house but they catch you before you've had a chance
to actually commit the burglary." A person would be convicted of
that crime if there was enough evidence to prove the person was
about to commit the crime but was caught before it could occur.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if there is a dollar amount associated with
the two charges.
MS. LUCKY replied that burglary is a class C or a class B felony.
Burglary and theft are two different things. Burglary in the
second degree is defined as, "A person commits the crime of
burglary if the person enters or remains unlawfully in a building
with the intent to commit a crime in the building." Burglary in
the first degree makes it a class B felony if the building is a
dwelling or the person is armed or attempts to cause physical
injury or uses a dangerous instrument. SB 99 only applies to
burglary - not theft. She pointed out that in the studies she
mentioned, about 50 percent of burglars went on to commit violent
crimes. The State of Virginia has had its DNA database in place
since 1989 and tests all felons. That study found that burglary
has the highest correlation with subsequent violent crimes, the
theories being that either it is a crime of convenience or that it
is a gateway crime. She read a quote from a forensic scientist in
Virginia about the results of the Virginia study. He said, "What
has been fascinating and somewhat remarkable is that greater than
60 percent of the hits from violent offender cases matched database
samples from convicted burglars, not violent offenders." That
means when the police have a cold hit from a crime scene, a lot of
the hits match samples that come from burglars. The studies
conclude that when convicted burglars are not required to give DNA
samples, they are being given a free violent crime.
MS. LUCKY stated that according to the Department of Public Safety,
when a sample is taken from a convicted felon, no name is attached;
it is given a bar code and put in the database. It would only be
accessed again if the sample was found at a crime scene. DPS has
assured her that the information on race, heredity and disease
cannot be taken out of the sample in the database.
SENATOR COWDERY thanked Ms. Lucky and said he believes this is
another tool that can be used to deter crime.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked, regarding the Virginia study, "If you had
a violent crime, you would find that the person had committed a
burglary, but if you had a burglary, there wasn't as high of a
chance that you would find that they had committed a violent crime.
Is that what it said?"
MS. LUCKY said it has been said both ways. Regarding the Virginia
database, the forensic scientist was saying the surprising thing
was that 60 percent of the matches from crime scenes come from
burglars. Looking at the statistics the other way, 40 percent of
convicted burglars go on to commit violent crimes.
SENATOR PHILLIPS asked if the committee has received a response
from the ACLU on this bill.
CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE informed him that a letter from the ACLU was
received this morning via e-mail.
MR. PAT CARTER, aide to the Senate Rules Committee, clarified that
a representative from the ACLU called to explain that the letter
was sent to Senator Pearce only.
CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE offered to make copies for committee members and
asked Senator Phillips if he would prefer to hold SB 99 in
committee.
SENATOR PHILLIPS said he would and noted his concern is with how
much information the government is keeping on people. He would
like to hear what the ACLU has to say on this issue.
CHAIRWOMAN PEARCE announced that SB 99 would come before the
committee at its next meeting. She then adjourned the meeting.
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