http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_13.18.html
E P I C A l e r t — Volume 13.18 — September 6, 2006
Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C.
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[4] EPIC Argues in Appeal of DNA Dragnet Case ========================================================================
On September 7, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana will hear arguments in an appeal challenging the use of DNA dragnets in finding suspects. EPIC has filed a “friend of the court” brief in the case, and Executive Director Marc Rotenberg will argue EPIC’s position before the court. In 2002, police investigating a series of rapes and murders near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, conducted a DNA dragnet, collecting DNA samples from more than 1,200 men in an attempt to match someone’s DNA with that found at the crime scenes. Shannon Kohler was one of the men approached by police. When he refused to provide one, he was served with a seizure warrant, forcing him to provide a sample. Kohler was later identified by police and news media as a suspect in the search for the serial killer. After Kohler was cleared of wrongdoing in the investigation, he filed a suit against the Baton Rouge police, claiming that they lacked probable cause to obtain the warrant and that his DNA sample should be destroyed. In February 2005, a federal district court ruled against him, saying that police had probable cause based on two anonymous tips and the fact that Mr. Kohler met “certain elements of an FBI profile,” which the court itself characterized as “so broad and vague that it cast a net of suspicion over thousands of citizens.”
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Our rights are consistently under attack. And, when you stand up for them you get smeared. Do you really trust the gubamint with your DNA? They are lazy, sloppy, and not above suspicion. The right to be secure in one’s effect certainly includes your DNA.
If you’ve never read the EPIC newsletter, the I recommend you sign up for their free email. It’ll give you a real education in Liberty.
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