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The Fourth Amendment doesn’t protect you from DNA collection during a misdemeanor booking

Posted on January 6, 2018June 25, 2025 by Dissent

Did you know that police can compel you to provide a DNA sample if they are booking you for (just) a misdemeanor?

I didn’t know, and was not happy to read about it on FourthAmendment.com. John Wesley Hall posts part of the opinion in U.S. v. Buller:

This court tends to agree with Justice Scalia that the primary purpose of the DNA collection statute is criminal investigation. As such, this court also agrees that the Fourth Amendment should require a warrant or some level of suspicion before the search of one’s DNA is allowed. However, until the King decision is modified or repudiated, it remains the law of the land and this court is bound to apply it. Because the analysis under King and the rationale for the conclusion in King cannot be meaningfully distinguished in the case of a misdemeanor arrestee, and because there is no federal law decided in the five years since the King decision was issued making such a distinction, the court concludes that the collection of DNA from Mr. Buller is constitutional under the Fourth Amendment.

Add that to the list of things that need to be fixed.

Related posts:

  • DNA Dragnet: In Some Cities, Police Go From Stop-and-Frisk to Stop-and-Spit
Category: CourtSurveillanceU.S.

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