Thursday, April 17, 2008

Feds to cast a wider DNA dragnet

Following up on Sue's post last week about surreptitious sampling of DNA by law enforcement officials comes this disturbing report about Federal plans to widen their DNA database, CODIS, to include samples taken from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency. This represents a major change from the Federal government's current policy of collecting genetic samples only from those convicted of felonies. 

For all of us, but particularly for those of us who have been detained by the Feds in the past for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (okay, well maybe because of being at a protest ... but the charges were dropped), this new policy raises serious privacy and civil liberty issues. The newly proposed regulations will be published in the Federal Register shortly, followed by a 30-day public comment period. 

1 comment:

SabrinaW said...

While I am not surprised that this Administration would be pushing for such a shift, it certainly does run counter to a foundational principle in this country of being innocent until proven guilty.

This would apply to people arrested under Federal Warrants, correct?