Supreme Court upholds DNA swabbing of people under arrest

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by augiedogie

Its no different than being fingerprinted.

It is quite different.

All they're trying to do is identify who this person is for certain.

No... they are trying to associate you with some other crime.

If they haven't done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about.

I believe Stalin said something like that too.

In fact, DNA could also set you free, as it has in some cases.

A process which can come after you have an attorney and/or with specific Court Order.

Automatic = the lowest common denominator in the criminal justice system has the leverage.
The weakest of evidence will be used to create an eligible charge even when it's clear it will be
dismissed even before arraignment... but the swab and search will be in the system.

Have reason to suspect Joe of X? Fine. Get a Judge to agree and their Court Order.
Stumble across Joe doing something petty or stupid and have a chance to run him through
the system and hope you hit a jackpot? No thanks.

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by MrRational

And your point is... what?

There is a lot more going on regarding our privacy than most citizens are aware and has been for years. Paranoia seems to be rampant in this thread.

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by MrRational

And your point is... what?

My point is the American people don't know ALL ...which includes me and you, even though many of your posts indicate you are ALL KNOWING.

[in_newengland]

I don't think it matters if they use DNA. If it had been available a long time ago they would have been using it a long time ago. If it will help to solve more crimes that's a good thing. It's true that you can get arrested for a lot of things, even protesting something, but that doesn't mean you were found guilty. It's just that there's a suspicion and if there's a suspicion, then get the DNA. They can have mine--who cares?

With the crazy things that are happening in this country we need to be more aware and have more resources for finding criminals. We have people coming into the country who have no identification, we have people shooting multiple people for no reason at all---that's why we need more means to identify these enemies of society. I don't see why anyone would be bothered by something that will definitely provide evidence and help solve crimes.

[ovcatto]

I was listening to a discussion of this on NPR today. The defense attorney's interviewed were of course upset while police and prosecutors were not, unsurprisingly which led to a bit of confusion on my part because attorney's for death row inmates have been arguing in recent years for increased use of DNA to exonerate their clients. It would seem to me that a large DNA date base, as police and prosecutors argued, has recently led to more suspects being cleared long before trial much less during the appeals process.

As for the argument that DNA is being used to link those arrested to other crimes... what exactly do folks think the police have been using finger prints for? At least DNA isn't like the unscientific alchemy referred to as finger print analysis.