SACRAMENTO — Opponents of an initiative that would greatly expand California's collection of DNA on Tuesday began e-mailing millions of potential voters messages they hope will influence next week's vote.
"Without a lot of money, this is an efficient way to reach voters," said Jeff Gillenkirk of the American Civil Liberties Union. "It's pretty effective, and the technology is right. It's like a free 60-second television spot."
The move comes as Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Proposition 69's most prominent proponent, prepares to announce on Wednesday a "major milestone" for the California Department of Justice's DNA Data Bank. The system has been matching criminals to crimes more than once each day, and was on track to crack 1,000 criminal cases by month's end.
The ACLU, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions, and other opponents of the measure sent one version of the e-mail to a combined membership of more than 2 million. A second shorter message is geared to youth-oriented e-mail lists run by advocacy groups like the Youth Justice Coalition, the Ella Baker Center and the League of Pissed Off Voters.
The groups hope the recipients, in turn, will forward the e-mails to others before Tuesday's election.
Currently, California collects DNA from those convicted of any of 36 serious felonies. Proposition 69 would quadruple the current databank to a projected 1 million samples in four years by collecting samples from anyone arrested for any felony, before they are convicted.
An unusual coalition of opponents, including civil libertarians and conservative privacy organizations, fear the measure turns the nation's presumption of innocence standard upside down.
"Under Proposition 69, your DNA belongs to the government, even if you're innocent," warns one of the rapidly cycling 70-second Internet messages, set to electronic background music. "Your DNA reveals your most personal, private information."
The youth-oriented message is set to hip-hop music and runs about half as long, dropping several hypothetical cases where innocents might be arrested.
"All of the things they list there — shoplifting, picketing, your son fighting in a parking lot after a football game — are not felony offenses," said Beth Pendexter, spokeswoman for proponents. "It's pure scare tactics and it's taking away from what DNA does and how it solves crimes."
California's lab is equipped to scan DNA only for identifying information, not genetic details that could reveal health histories or proclivities for diseases, said Lockyer spokeswoman Hallye Jordan.
But Lockyer has said he would have preferred the initiative target all convicted felons and excluded those who were arrested but not convicted. He also wants a streamlined way for those judged innocent to have their DNA sample destroyed, echoing another concern by opponents.
Proponents say collecting DNA with a mouth swab at the time of arrest, at the same time fingerprints are taken, is more efficient than tracking down suspects after conviction. They say automatic early collections also can help with investigations by pinpointing the guilty and eliminating the innocent. Fingerprints and mug shots remain in the system indefinitely, Jordan said.
The Internet blitz follows a similar campaign earlier this month by opponents of Proposition 64, which would limit lawsuits against businesses. Opponents of that measure are being vastly outspent by proponents who have poured millions of dollars into television advertising.
Proposition 69 proponents have spent more than $2 million, but most went to qualify the measure for the ballot. Supporters have no radio or television advertising, and have been relying mostly on endorsements from law enforcement officials and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to counter negative newspaper editorials.
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