The fourth amendment to the US constitution states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The Supreme Court today went above the constitutional rights of American citizens to legalize the collection of DNA test after arrest — before trial and conviction. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? A 5-4 majority of the court concluded it is legitimate, and upheld a state law. “When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and they bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee’s DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment,” the majority wrote. Law enforcement lauds genetic testing’s potential as the “gold standard” of reliable evidence gathering, especially to solve “cold cases” involving violent offenders. Twenty-six states and the federal government allow genetic swabs to be taken after a felony arrest and without a warrant. The Obama administration has signaled its support says CNN. The number of offender profiles in federal Combined DNA Index System is now about 10 million, with more than a million arrestee profiles. President Obama says, “It’s the right thing to do. This is where the national registry becomes so important.” YES, I WOULD SAY THE "NATIONAL REGISTRY" IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HIM!
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:11:24 +0000
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