Sunday, October 02, 2005
Editorial: Use DNA databases only for criminals
A Senate bill would invade the privacy of people who have been arrested but not convicted.
From the RoundTable blog
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More than a decade ago, Virginia took the lead among states by establishing a DNA database for criminal investigations. Most states and the federal government have followed suit, creating a powerful crime-fighting data network.
A bill pending in the U.S. Senate, however, would take the federal database from fighting crime to invading privacy.
The bill, which has already passed the Judiciary Committee, would expand DNA collection to anyone arrested by federal law enforcement officials. Supporters say adding that DNA to the database would help combat crime.
No doubt, but at what cost?
Convicted felons are one thing -- they forfeit many of their rights and expectations of privacy when they are found guilty. Suspects are something else entirely. Until they have been tried and convicted, they are innocent under the law. Police, after all, sometimes arrest the wrong person.
Nor is collecting DNA samples the same as fingerprinting. Fingerprints do not contain the fundamental building blocks of life that can reveal so much about a person. Whether someone suspected of committing a crime has a genetic propensity for cancer, for example, is not the government's business.
Virginia collects DNA samples from suspects but goes to great lengths to protect privacy. Here, police may take samples only after a magistrate or grand jury has determined probable cause for the arrest. If the arrestee ultimately is exonerated, the state automatically expunges the data from its records and destroys all samples.
Under the Senate bill, there would be no judicial review, and the onus for removing data would fall on innocent arrestees who would have to show they were not convicted. Moreover, once the samples are filed, there will be little to stop legal or illegal abuse of the data.
Senators should refrain from chipping away another civil right. Forcing people to give up their most personal information should require more than just suspicion by law enforcement.
