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http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...court-weighs-dna-sampling-during-arrests?lite
The Supreme Court is about to decide what one justice says may be its most important criminal procedure case in decades whether the police have the right to take a DNA sample after they make an arrest.
The question before the justices is whether taking DNA, often with the quick swab of a cheek, is the latter-day equivalent of fingerprinting or violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches.
This is whats at stake, Justice Samuel Alito said during an oral argument Feb. 26. Lots of murders, lots of rapes that can be that can be solved using this new technology that involves a very minimal intrusion on personal privacy............
The question before the court has vast implications: 28 states and the federal government take DNA swabs from people under arrest before they can be judged innocent or guilty. In Maryland alone, DNA samples during arrests have led to 75 prosecutions and 42 convictions since 2009, Katherine Winfree, the states chief deputy attorney general, told the justices........
Prosecutors around the country will be watching the courts ruling closely. If the justices decide that DNA swabbing during arrest is unconstitutional, untold numbers of cold-case convictions could be appealed.
Mindful of the implications, the court could narrowly tailor its ruling, said Jeffrey Urdangen, director of the Center for Criminal Defense at the Northwestern University School of Law.
The repercussions of this are enormous, he said.
More at link......
The Supreme Court is about to decide what one justice says may be its most important criminal procedure case in decades whether the police have the right to take a DNA sample after they make an arrest.
The question before the justices is whether taking DNA, often with the quick swab of a cheek, is the latter-day equivalent of fingerprinting or violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches.
This is whats at stake, Justice Samuel Alito said during an oral argument Feb. 26. Lots of murders, lots of rapes that can be that can be solved using this new technology that involves a very minimal intrusion on personal privacy............
The question before the court has vast implications: 28 states and the federal government take DNA swabs from people under arrest before they can be judged innocent or guilty. In Maryland alone, DNA samples during arrests have led to 75 prosecutions and 42 convictions since 2009, Katherine Winfree, the states chief deputy attorney general, told the justices........
Prosecutors around the country will be watching the courts ruling closely. If the justices decide that DNA swabbing during arrest is unconstitutional, untold numbers of cold-case convictions could be appealed.
Mindful of the implications, the court could narrowly tailor its ruling, said Jeffrey Urdangen, director of the Center for Criminal Defense at the Northwestern University School of Law.
The repercussions of this are enormous, he said.
More at link......
