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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

4th AMENDMENT ON TRIAL, LOSES GROUND

June 3, 2013, the United States Supreme Court released a split opinion saying the government has a right to collect DNA from innocent people (we are all presumed innocent until proven guilty) without a warrant or exigent circumstances.

Read the full Maryland v. King opinion here.  The Supreme Court reviewed the Maryland case “When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee’s DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”

The presentation of the Opinion of the Court begins on page 5. 

The dissent of opposing judges begins on page 34.

Both are important reading.

The test cases are sometimes easy to consider, but the concepts and ideals are what's important.  What do you think?

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