Police sampling of the DNA of individuals arrested in connection with serious crimes may become as routine as fingerprinting and photographing as the result of a major Fourth Amendment ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
Embracing DNA technology as "one of the most significant scientific advancements of our era," the court ruled, 5-4, in Maryland v. King that taking DNA samples with a mouth swab is a "negligible" intrusion that does not violate the Fourth Amendment’s bar against unreasonable searches. During oral arguments in February, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. said the case was "perhaps the most important criminal procedure case that this court has heard in decades."
