Constitutional Law

Federal Government Set To Expand Its Criminal DNA Database

The federal government is preparing to expand its growing DNA databases, The Washington Post reports.

According to the newspaper, the U.S. government will soon start collecting DNA samples from all citizens arrested in connection with any federal crime and from many immigrants detained by federal authorities. The article says the collections will add “genetic identifiers from more than 1 million individuals a year to the swiftly growing federal law enforcement DNA database.”

The Post reports that some critics of the policy, to be published as a proposed rule in the Federal Register, argued that it poses serious threats to citizens’ privacy rights, noting that those improperly detained could have their DNA samples wind up in the database.

Tania Simoncelli, a science adviser for the American Civil Liberties Union and an author of an American Constitution Society issue brief on DNA databases, told The Post, “Innocent people don’t belong in a so-called criminal database. We’re crossing the line.”

ACS will host a panel discussion on privacy rights on June 14 at its annual convention at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).