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Convicted Hacker Adrian Lamo Refuses to Give Blood

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-so-juicy-cases dept.

CaliforniaCCW writes "Hopefully everyone here remembers the case of Adrian Lamo, a so-called 'gray hat' hacker who plead guilty to one count of computer crimes against Microsoft, Nexis-Lexis and the New York Times in 2004. He got a felony conviction, six months detention in his parents' home, and two years of probation. Today, as a condition of his probation, he must provide a sample of his DNA in the form of a blood sample, something which he has refused to do. Should convicted felons on probation have privacy rights over their DNA? Or is a blood sample like a fingerprint, something that everyone should provide to their government?"

5 of 673 comments (clear)

  1. Crossing a line? by E-Rock · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can't exactly say why, but taking an imprint of my finger doesn't seem like a big deal where taking my blood and analyzing my DNA seems a bit invasive.

    Maybe they had the same debate back when the line was between taking down a physical description and taking an imprint of my finger. We all know how that one worked out.

  2. You think that's bad... by Manip · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you think that is bad (having to provide DNA after being *convicted*) you must not have been to jail in the United Kingdom...

    Over here if you are arrested for things like littering, speeding, drunkenness and other minor infractions the police are legally entitled to take a DNA sample (and they DO from just about everyone).

    You can refuse the order either... If they want a sample they are getting a sample...

  3. from the article: by seezer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    According to his attorney, Lamo's refusal is based on a religious objection to giving blood, and he's willing to provide his DNA in another form.
    "He went in there with fingernail clippings and hair, and they refused to accept it, because they will only accept blood,"

  4. Some do. Some don't. by leftie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did they take a DNA sample from former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham when they put him in jail for taking bribes from defense contractors?

    This guy didn't do close to anything as bad as Cunningham.

  5. Retention policy? by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On a related note, what's the law regarding retention of stuff like DNA data, fingerprints, etc? For example, if my next door neighbor got murdered, I might get asked to provide my fingerprints to rule me out as a subject. I might be willing to do this (provided I'm not actually guilty) but what happens afterwards?

    Are there restrictions for situations like this that only allow the authorities to use such data for only a specific case? Or does my data get permanently entered in a general database, to be automatically scanned for any and every crime in the future?

    I'm not against cooperating with the police, but if it's the later, I'd be extremely wary of volunteering for such things.