JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF TORONTO

DNA SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG)

Q&A WORKSHOP

Featuring our new JGS Toronto members,

Gil Bardige and Arthur Sissman

Tuesday, 24 May 2022, 7:30 p.m. ET
Virtual meeting:  View from home 

We are pleased to welcome Gil Bardige and Arthur Sissman, both recognized as experts in Jewish DNA (see bios below), as new members of JGS Toronto. These two DNA mavens will answer your questions and provide general mentoring on your DNA brick walls. 

Here’s an opportunity to submit your DNA questions so that our mavens can try to provide you with guidance by directing you to specific methods and tips to further your research. By submitting your questions for this programme, you agree, if necessary, to give permission to share your screen and the names of DNA matches and family tree members. This will allow others to benefit from observing the techniques used by our experts. We ask that you include as much information as possible with your question and indicate what research you’ve done.

We are pleased to announce that this DNA Special Interest Group (SIG) programme will be open for both members and non-members.  The DNA SIG is scheduled to meet at least 4 times per year. Future DNA SIG programmes may be open only to JGS Toronto members to allow for the interactive presentations and discussions that are the hallmark of our SIG meetings.

Gil Bardige, originally from Chicago, has been a genealogist for over 40 years and a Genetic Genealogist since 2007.  He has tested at the 4 major testing companies and is the Co-Admininsitrator of 3 projects at FTDNA including Jewish R1B and R-A11711 Subclade Projects.  He is Chair of the Columbus Ohio JGS, a volunteer at IAJGS Conferences (including the Program Committee), and Director of the Mentoring Program.  Gil is a firm believer that you can use DNA results as a tool in your genealogy research.  Over the last five years, he has regularly helped people navigate their DNA matches by speaking at dozens of Jewish Genealogical Societies. After his presentations, people say: “Thank you, Gil, I am no longer confused!"

Arthur Sissman has been engaged in family history genealogy since 1999 and genetic genealogy (DNA) since 2015. Arthur has built over 25 family history trees for his various family surname lines. In addition he has tested his autosomal DNA at all the major DNA testing companies, and his Y-DNA and MtDNA at FamilyTreeDNA.  Using his methods in DNA matching, Arthur has found relatives previously unknown to him and has built out one family history tree by 150 persons in 10 days. For information on Arthur’s Jewish Genealogy SIG monthly meetings and scheduled workshops, email genresearch13@....

To register for the 24 May DNA SIG event , please go jgstoronto.ca/register.

You will then receive an immediate acknowledgement plus the link to access the event on 24 May.

Note: the video recording of this event will be available to JGS Toronto members only.

If you would like to ask our speakers one or more questions for this progamme, please complete this questionnaire form and submit it by 16 May.  Our DNA mavens will try to get to as many questions as possible with priority given to JGS Toronto members.

To our guests: consider joining JGS Toronto for only $40.00 Canadian per year ($50 for couples) by Clicking Here, or consider a donation to JGS Toronto by Clicking Here to assist us in continuing our mission of providing a forum for the exchange of genealogical information. (Tax receipts are issued to Canadian donors.)

info@...      www.jgstoronto.ca

Tel 647-247-6414         twitter: jgsoftoronto

facebook: Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto

Jerry Scherer

DNA SIG Co-Ordinator

jscherer@...

A mid-level appeals court in  New York halted the use of a DNA crimefighting tool that has helped crack cold cases and put murderers behind bars, but has also raised privacy and racial discrimination concerns, because state lawmakers never approved the practice.  Familial DNA searching, the technique allows law enforcement agencies to search the state’s DNA databank for close biological relatives of people who have left traces of genetic material at a crime scene.

Three of the panel’s five members voted to suspend the searches, which were challenged by a group of Black men who worried they could be targeted for investigation because their biological brothers were convicted of crimes and had genetic information stored in the state’s DNA databank. The Court’s majority, noted that familial DNA searching is useful in investigating crimes — including in identifying serial killers in Kansas and California and a recent Bronx cold case arrest — and that the court’s decision to stop the practice was based on concerns about government separation of powers.  Judge Gische wrote, “We find that the overwhelming policy issues inherent in authorizing the use and limitations upon familial match searches of DNA information collected in the New York State databank warrants a conclusion that it is an inherently legislative function and that the challenged regulation cannot stand.” A spokesperson for the Division of Criminal Justice Services said they are reviewing the decision next steps.

The ruling pertains only to the state’s DNA databank, which is populated with samples from people convicted of crimes in the state, not databanks that are maintained by private companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe for genetic genealogy research. 

Authorities have, for decades, found suspects by matching crime scene evidence to convicted offenders’ DNA. Familial DNA testing comes into play when there’s no match. It looks instead for people similar enough to be closely related to whoever left the crime scene DNA. From there, investigators can look for family members who fit as suspects and, if they find one, pursue enough other evidence to bring charges.

The state legislature authorized the creation of the state’s DNA databank in 1994, but only allowed the collection and searching of samples from people convicted of crimes. In 2010, the state authorized the release of partial-match information to law enforcement, but not the technique of searching specifically for relatives of people in the databank.

Regulations on searching the state databank were adopted in 2017 by New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services, part of the state’s executive branch, and the independent Commission on Forensic Science.

To read more see:

https://mynorthwest.com/3461946/new-york-court-halts-family-dna-searches-for-crime-suspects/

To read previous articles on the NYC DNA Profiles, familial DNA and criminal suspects,  and more see the IAJGS Records Access Alert archives at:  http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/private/records-access-alerts.  You must be registered to access the archives. To register for the IAJGS Records Access Alert go to:  http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/listinfo/records-access-alerts  and follow the instructions to enter your email address, full name and which genealogical organization with whom you are affiliated .  You will receive an email response that you have to reply to or the subscription will not be finalized.

It is required to include your organization affiliation (genealogy organization, etc.)

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee