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California DNA Collection Law Struck Down

Posted by Unknown on from the mark-of-the-beast dept.

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.

4 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Should have been obvious all along by mr1911 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Arrest != Conviction

    The appeals court made the correct ruling. Now they just need to order all of the samples destroyed.

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    1. Re:Should have been obvious all along by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Arrest != Conviction

      Law enforcement and legislators haven't been able to see the distinction for a long time. It's a wonder we still have courts.

    2. Re:Should have been obvious all along by Wansu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem is Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Voter can't tell the difference between "accused" and "convicted".

      Many of them don't care about the difference between accused and convicted.

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  2. slashdot fail by jalfrock · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The introductory comment says it's about "DNA collection from criminals". The whole point is that half of these people are *not* "criminals"!