The shadow of “big brother” watching you comes out in print within this piece about massive forensic DNA collection in numerous states. California has the biggest database.
“The question is: Do we want the government to have all these genetic samples?” said Elizabeth E. Joh, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. “There are other ways the government can use these databases.”
Joh said advancing DNA science also means samples obtained for CODIS can yield increasingly personal information about people and their families. For example, she said, California allows searches that can lead to not only suspects themselves but also relatives of people in the database.
also from the late Justice Scalia:
A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Maryland case upheld the practice but drew sharp criticism from the four dissenting justices. In a scathing dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, “Make no mistake about it: As an entirely predictable consequence of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason.”
One prosecutor says that we leave our DNA all over the place anyway, so what’s the big deal?
I suppose future generations shall find out what the “deal” will be.
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 