| Meghan Harrison (MA, socio-cultural
anthropology) is a second
year M.A. student specializing in socio-cultural anthropology at
SIUC. Her primary research interests are
focused within legal anthropology utilizing questions about the
judicial
system, power and politics, and the formation of the state. Because of future desires to examine the
political interactions of nations in contexts of global power
positions, her
current geographic focus is within the United States.
Ongoing
research is being conducted in the Illinois Court System. Meghan has
been
working with the judicial personnel of Illinois first district for the
last
year, and this previous summer she became a legal intern for the
State’s
Attorney in Murphysboro. The internship
is scheduled to continue in the following summer. Mrs.
Harrison is currently investigating the
use of new technologies within the law, with specific focus on DNA
technologies
and their legal reification of people and things. The
2001 passage of Illinois 730 5/5-3-4
represents the growing trend of incorporating DNA as identification,
creating
the State’s right to require DNA samples from all convicted felons. This legislation, and the surrounding interactions
of felons and attorneys, is the focus of Meghan’s ongoing presence with
the
Jackson County Court House.
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