California Storing DNA of Innocent People

Reports from Great Britain suggest police make arrests without cause simply to obtain a DNA sample to put in the country’s database.

Forcing people to provide a DNA sample without any judicial oversight, just because a single police officer has arrested them, violates the Constitution. That’s why California’s law mandating that DNA samples be taken from all felony arrestees is facing a legal challenge from the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC).

At issue is Proposition 69, a voter-enacted law which mandates that anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony in California has to hand over a DNA sample, regardless of whether or not they are ever charged or convicted. As a result, tens of thousands of innocent Californians will be subject to a lifetime of genetic surveillance because a single police officer suspected them of a crime.

Full Story: California Storing DNA of Innocent People | Civil Liberties | AlterNet.

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Filed Under: Fascism, Police State, Authoritarianism

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