California DNA Collection Law Struck Down 192
wiedzmin writes with an article in Wired about DNA collection from criminals in California. From the article: "A California appeals court is striking down a voter-approved measure requiring every adult arrested on a felony charge to submit a DNA sample. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Proposition 69 amounted to unconstitutional, warrantless searches of arrestees. More than 1.6 million samples have been taken following the law's 2009 implementation. Only about a half of those arrested in California are convicted."
Note that the State can still appeal the ruling; according to the article, the Attorney General's office has made no comment as to whether they will do so.
Arrest?!? Did they really think that would stand? (Score:4, Interesting)
Apparently, they did at least try to specify, initially, that they could only keep these DNA profiles for 2 years. But then they stripped even that restriction of any teeth by allowing the lab to keep it indefinitely (based only on the assurance by the arresting cops that the suspect was still part of an "ongoing investigation") and absolving the lab of any legal penalties for not purging profiles from the database (or any defendant from claiming in his defense that his sample should have been purged).
Re:Should have been obvious all along (Score:4, Interesting)
At least in my state, fingerprints are collected upon arrest, but are supposed to be destroyed if there is no conviction.
Re:This is about government power (Score:5, Interesting)
Nope.
The Republicans are just the opposite side of the same "Government Power" coin.
Republicans and Democrats do not differ in how much power they want the government to have. Only on who should benefit the most.
Big Businesses and Super Rich or Labor Unions and Lawyers.
Personally I do not trust either for shit.
People have to stand up and take responsibility for their own lives first and then remove themselves from the government teat.
Once we no longer need the government to provide for our finances we can take away their power over us.
Re:Should have been obvious all along (Score:2, Interesting)
Now they just need to order all of the samples destroyed.
They can not order them destroyed because they are likely out of the hands of the state at this point and in the fed's hands. A state court can not order the feds to do squat. But any person ever charged with a crime based on evidence gained from this DNA database has a 4A claim to bounce the evidence (exclusionary rule)
Re:Should have been obvious all along (Score:4, Interesting)
Because your genes can tell a LOT more about you than just your fingerprints. DNA is more than identification.