The first step towards a police state is being able to track , locate or identify all the people. The U.S.Supreme Court approved the first step in that process with the case of  Maryland v. King . Maryland as well as 28 other states and the Federal Government take DNA samples at the time of arrest. Tennessee takes a sample on some violent crimes. The majority of the court make the analogy that DNA is simply used to identify someone like a fingerprint or a photograph.

Hogwash. DNA is an investigative tool.Once a sample is captured , it is sent to a DNA database. It is checked against DNA samples recovered from crime scenes in hope of a match. In King , Mr.King was arrested and a DNA sample was taken .The sample matched from some DNA taken from a crime scene.

Justice Scalia blasted the other Justices in a rare oral dissent. Justice Scalia stated in part:

“The court’s assertion that DNA is being taken, not to solve crimes, but to identify those in the state’s custody, taxes the credulity of the credulous,” he said. “Solving unsolved crimes is a noble objective, but it occupies a lower place in the American pantheon of noble objectives than the protection of our people from suspicion-less law-enforcement searches.”

 “This search had nothing to do with establishing King’s identity,” Justice Scalia wrote, warning that “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.”

 

Justice Scalia is dead right. This case is just another exhibit in the case against the shrinking Fourth Amendment. The Second Amendment grows which each court decision while the protections against an invasion of privacy wanes.

My fear is Tennessee will now take a sample of everyone that is arrested. Where does the court draw the line ? Do we start taking DNA samples of every child when they enter school ? How about we take a DNA sample when a child is born ? The court just ruled in Missouri v. McNeeley that the police should have a search warrant before a blood sample is taken . Is DNA different ?

Justice Alito opined that the King case may be one of the most important case in years regarding criminal procedure. He may will be right.

Will there be new standards on police ?. No DNA sample taken from the crime scene. Therefore , lack  of forensic evidence equals not guilty.

My fear is big brother or a police state may be closer now than ever before. Drone technology , video cameras , and now DNA sampling where are we headed ?