Hello Big Brother, I love you.
In the first case of its type, a federal judge in California has ruled that police can forcibly take DNA samples, including drawing blood with a needle, from Americans who have been arrested but not convicted of a crime. (via azspot)
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Hollows ruled on Thursday that a federal law allowing DNA samples upon arrest for a felony was constitutional and did not violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Hollows, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, said the procedure was no more invasive or worrisome than fingerprinting or a photograph. “The court agrees that DNA sampling is analogous to taking fingerprints as part of the routine booking process upon arrest,” he wrote, calling it “a law enforcement tool that is a technological progression from photographs and fingerprints.”
Holy shit. This is unbelievable. The point is not that DNA testing is physically invasive; it is that it lasts FOREVER. If you are arrested, but not convicted!, the government has the power to be able to track and label you for the rest of your life. I wouldn’t be surprised if this goes all the way to the Supreme Court. )Magistrate Judges are nobodies, anyway.) -M
