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…
Category: Laws
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…
Federal Judge Finds Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional
A federal judge on Thursday found the national Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. The 1996 law bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. But U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that it violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution, denying benefits to one class of married people – homosexual unions – but not…