The unelected Supreme Court just took away an important right from the American people. Law-enforcement agencies can now take DNA samples from citizens without a warrant, probable cause or conviction. Apparently we citizens don’t have a constitutional right to privacy. We are all ‘’persons of interest.’’
Some say that taking DNA is just like taking fingerprints. That isn’t true. You can’t identify a suspect’s relatives with fingerprints, handprints or footprints, but you can with DNA. You can’t clone a person with fingerprints, but you can with DNA (or at least you will be able to in the future). Also, it is a lot easier for a crooked cop to plant DNA than it is to plant fingerprints.
Some government agencies require applicants and employees to give their fingerprints. Will these “public servants’’ now be required to submit to DNA testing, or do they have a special right to privacy that we private citizens don’t have? If the government has the right to take DNA from innocent Americans who haven’t committed any crimes, they have the right to take away everything we have.
Chuck Mann
Greensboro
