DNA New Fingerprints?

In the latest United States Supreme Court case of Maryland v. King, the high court in upholding a Maryland law which allowed collection of DNA samples from all suspects charged with dangerous felonies stated: “The legitimate government interest served by the Maryland DNA Collection Act is one that is well established: the need for law enforcement officers in a safe and accurate way to process and identify the persons and possessions they must take into custody.”

The Court talked about importance of identity and getting that right and dismissed fingerprints as inadequate or inferior.

In my opinion, Scalia got it right when he wrote “The Court’s assertion that DNA is being taken, not to solve crimes, but to identify those in the State’s custody, taxes the credulity of the credulous.”

Scalia, in his inimitable way continued, “Make no mistake about it: As an entirely predictable consequence of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason.

I doubt that the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would have been so eager to open their mouths for royal inspection.

I therefore dissent, and hope that today’s incursion upon the Fourth Amendment, like an earlier one,will some day be repudiated.”

Indeed, this 5-4 decision is a poorly reasoned decision and one which unnecessarily expands the collection of personal information that is completely unnecessary for identity.