Tennessean on DNA Testing: TN high court to set limits for paternity fraud suits

[doeriver]

This articles suggests the need for Tennessee law requiring the mandatory DNA testing of supposed fathers at childbirth --- I am thinking that this newspaper report missed the point that in many instances that the biological father is himself in a better financial position to support his own offspring than is the duped, legal father.



Why not take this proposed DNA testing a step further and require all Tennessee motor vehicle operators to submit a DNA sample (just as they currently submit to being photographed) in order to receive a State of Tennessee license to operate a motor vehicle? I am thinking that such mandatory DNA testing would go a long way to solving all sorts of crimes that have been committed in Tennessee and would discourage many criminal acts from being committed within Tennessee and also discourage many prior convicted and DNA tested criminals from relocating into Tennessee.

TN high court to set limits for paternity fraud suits
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110821/NEWS/308190107/2288/NLETTER01/TN-high-court-to-set-limits-for-paternity-fraud-suits

DNA testing urged
Some advocates are citing the gut-wrenching case between Hodge and Craig as evidence that supports calls for mandatory DNA testing of supposed fathers at childbirth to leave no doubt about paternity and avoid anguish down the road.

Rosenburg is in this camp. Holstein supports such tests, too, but only in cases of children born out of wedlock.

“Use science to solve an age-old problem,” Holstein urged. “We have a scientific tool, and we have had it for 15 years, and it’s not being used to its full effect. ... Look at all the heartache that has resulted (from this case).”

Should the Supreme Court rule in Craig’s favor, several similar cases may flood the state court system. In Tennessee and nationwide, questions about paternity are common.

In the first six months of this year, the Tennessee Department of Human Services tested 4,694 potential fathers for child support purposes, and 1,171, or 25 percent, turned out not to be fathers. A 2006 survey of DNA labs nationwide by the Association of American Blood Banks found that 26 percent of men who got paternity tests learned they were not the father of the child in question.