Maryland v. King, No. 12-207; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Kennedy, J.; dissent by Scalia, J.; decided June 3, 2013. On certiorari to the Court of Appeals of Maryland.
After his 2009 arrest on first- and second-degree assault charges, respondent King was processed through a Wicomico County, Md., facility, where booking personnel used a cheek swab to take a DNA sample pursuant to the Maryland DNA Collection Act. The swab was matched to an unsolved 2003 rape, and King was charged with that crime. He moved to suppress the DNA match, arguing that the act violated the Fourth Amendment, but the circuit court judge found the law constitutional. King was convicted of rape. The Maryland Court of Appeals set aside the conviction, finding unconstitutional the portions of the act authorizing DNA collection from felony arrestees.
