Friday, May 21, 2010

House Overwhelmingly Supports Invasive DNA Database

The House of Representatives passed (by a 357 to 32 vote) a bill which would give funding to state governments to keep a database of all persons arrested (not convicted mind you) under the usual excuse... for your safety.
. . . "We should allow law enforcement to use all the technology available to them...to reduce expensive and unjust false convictions, bring closure to victims by solving cold cases, better identify criminals, and keep those who commit violent crime from walking the streets," said Rep. Harry Teague [(D-NM)]

. . . civil libertarians say DNA samples should be required only from people who have been convicted of crimes . . .  if there is probable cause to believe that someone is involved in a crime, a judge can sign a warrant allowing a blood sample or cheek swab to be forcibly extracted.

"It's wrong to treat someone as guilty before they're convicted," says Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute. "It inverts the concept of innocent until proven guilty."  READ MORE>>>
 This is troubling news.

Interestingly enough, only Republicans (a small minority of them at that) opposed this bill. Of the two main parties, only Republicans care about your freedom and your privacy.

To read the text of the bill (if you really hate yourself) and to see how your representative voted visit Govtrack's page for the bill.

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