| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
SCOTUS To Rule On DNA Samples From Arrestees Without Warrant
Last week the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case Maryland v. King, in which the State of Maryland has appealed a decision of its own appellate court that a Maryland law permitting police to take DNA samples from arrested persons violates the prohibition in the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution on unreasonable searches and seizures.
The WSWS needs your support!
Your donations go directly to financing, improving, and expanding the web site.
Alonzo Jay King, Jr. was arrested on a felony assault charge. Maryland police took a DNA sample swabbed from his cheek. The results connected him to an unsolved “cold case,” for which he was later prosecuted and convicted. King was not suspected of that crime at the time the DNA sample was taken.
The basic rule under the Fourth Amendment is that a search or seizure must seek evidence of a particular crime, and a judge must issue a warrant finding that there is probable cause to believe that the search will locate such evidence. Blanket DNA sampling of arrestees plainly violates this dual mandate. MOREHERE
