Bob Egelko reports: Challenging a California law that requires police to collect the DNA of all suspected felons, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer told a federal appeals court Tuesday that the government should not be allowed to take the “genetic blueprint” of someone who hasn’t been convicted of a crime. One-third of the 300,000…
Category: Laws
Ca: Senate Statutory Review of the DNA Identification Act
Michel-Adrien Sheppard writes: The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recently published its report entitled Public Protection, Privacy and the Search for Balance: A Statutory Review of the DNA Identification Act. The Act, which came into effect in 2000, created a national DNA databank containing DNA samples from individuals convicted of certain designated…
IT: Media on strike in response to ‘gag law’
Journalists and editors across Italy have gone on strike today to protest against “gag law” legislation being pushed through the parliament by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The 24-hour strike on Friday – organised by the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI) – affects the vast majority of the country’s major newspapers and news services…
NC: State Senate supports taking DNA upon arrest
Lynn Bonner reports: In the debate over individual rights versus the ability to solve crimes, the state Senate came down firmly on the side of law enforcement Thursday. The Senate voted 46-1 to approve the bill expanding the state’s power to collect DNA swabs from some suspects upon arrest. […] A similar version of the…