Monthly Archives: November 2009

DNA on Arrest: The Score is Tied

Twelve years ago, Louisiana adopted a law mandating that “[a] person who is arrested for a felony sex offense or other specified offense . . . shall have a DNA sample drawn or taken at the same time he is fingerprinted pursuant to the booking procedure.” Today, the movement to acquire DNA from individuals not convicted of a crime and to check it against state and national databases of DNA profiles from unsolved crimes is snowballing. There now are 21 states with similar laws. In this year alone, seven states — a full one-third of the total — enacted such laws. (Williams 2009).

These laws have had a placid childhood, with surprisingly few challenges to their constitutionality. This period of calm is coming to an end, as conflicting opinions on the reasonableness of these searches under the Fourth Amendment emerge. Within the next few years, it seems likely that, as Kansas State Representative Pat Colloton (R), who authored the bill that initiated her state’s DNA sampling program predicted, “this issue will go to the United States Supreme Court.” (Gramlich 2006).

This posting presents a scoreboard on the litigation and scholarly commentary to date. It is based on preliminary research. If any players or contests have been omitted, I hope that readers will correct those omissions by leaving a comment. The law review articles listed in the table do not include ones arguing that convicted-offenders databases are unconstitutional. These authors would reach the same conclusion for a database that includes arrestees, but since the lower courts have resoundingly rejected their analyses, little would be gained by keeping track of them here.

The tables are descriptive rather than critical. They simply make the point that as yet there is no consensus on the constitutionality of taking DNA samples during a custodial arrest with the intention of running database searches (in the absence of a warrant and probable cause to believe that the search will produce a hit in the database). Later, I shall be commenting on some of the more superficial, if not silly, arguments that are surfacing in the pending cases.

Table 1. Caselaw on the Constitutionality of Statutes
Mandating DNA Sampling on Arrest (Nov. 28, 2009)

Appellate: Highest Courts (1-0)
● Anderson v. Commonwealth, 650 S.E.2d 702 (Va. 2007) (state arrestee law upheld under unspecified balancing test and analogy to fingerprinting as a booking procedure)
Appellate: Intermediate Courts (0-1)
● In re Welfare of C.T.L., 722 N.W.2d 484 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006) (state arrestee law struck down as per se unreasonable without probable cause and a warrant)
● Related case: Friedman v. Boucher, 580 F.3d 847 (9th Cir. 2009) (an arrest does not justify DNA sampling without an applicable statute)
Federal District Courts (1-1)
● United States v. Pool, CR. No. S-09-0015 EJG, 2009 WL 2152029 (E.D.Cal. July 15, 2009)
(federal arrestee law upheld under “totality of circumstances” balancing test) (oral argument before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in docket no. 09-10303 scheduled for the second week of December)
● United States v. Mitchell, No. 2:09cr105, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103575 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 6, 2009) (federal law held unenforceable as per se unreasonable)
● Pending: Haskell v. Brown, 09-cv-04779-CRB (N.D. Cal. 2009) (challenge to California law adopted by proposition, no clear standard articulated by either party) (hearing on preliminary injunction scheduled for December 4)

Table 2. Law Review Articles and Notes on the Constitutionality
of Statutes Mandating DNA Sampling on Arrest (Nov. 28, 2009)

Faculty: (1-1)
● D.H. Kaye, The Constitutionality of DNA Sampling on Arrest, 10 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 455-508 (2001) (a statute with sufficient protections of private, nonidentifying information is constitutional under the special needs exception)
● Tracey Maclin, Is Obtaining an Arrestee’s DNA a Valid Special Needs Search Under the Fourth Amendment? What Should (and Will) the Supreme Court Do?, 34 J.L. Med. & Ethics 165, 178-82 (2006) (predicting that the Supreme Court will uphold taking DNA from arrestees under a balancing test but that it should reject the practice as per se unreasonable)
● D. H. Kaye, Who Needs Special Needs? On the Constitutionality of Collecting DNA and Other Biometric Data from Arrestees, 34 J.L. Med. & Ethics 188 (2006) (proposing a “biometric information exception” to the warrant requirement)
Student (2-2)
● Martha L. Lawson, Note, Personal Does Not Always Equal “Private”: The Constitutionality of Requiring DNA Samples from Convicted Felons and Arrestees, 9 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 645 (2001) (the government’s interest in mandatory testing of all those arrested outweighs individuals’ privacy interests)
● Reneé A. Germaine, Comment, “You Have the Right to Remain Silent. . . You Have No Right to Your DNA” Louisiana’s DNA Detection of Sexual and Violent Offender’s Act: An Impermissible Infringement on Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure, 22 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 759 (2004) (unconstitutional under balancing test other than special needs)
● Kimberly A. Polanco, Note,  Constitutional Law-The Fourth Amendment Challenge to Dna Sampling of Arrestees Pursuant to the Justice for All Act of 2004: a Proposed Modification to the Traditional Fourth Amendment Test of Reasonableness, 27 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 483 (2005) (constitutional under a balancing test)
● John D. Biancamano, Note, Arresting DNA: The Evolving Nature of Dna Collection Statutes and Their Fourth Amendment Justifications, 70 Ohio St. L.J. 619 (2009) (unconstitutional under special needs and totality of the circumstances tests)
● Related note: Jacqueline K. S. Lew, Note, The Next Step in DNA Databank Expansion? The Constitutionality of DNA Sampling of Former Arrestees, 57 Hastings L.J. 199 (2005) (unconstitutional as applied to “former arrestees”)

References

John Gramlich, States Collecting DNA from Arrestees, July 27, 2006, http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=129960, accessed Nov. 28, 2009

Richard Williams, Taking DNA Samples from Arrestees, 17 Legisbrief No. 40, Oct. 2009, http://www.ncsl.org/?TabId=18715, accessed November 28, 2009

15 La . Rev. Stat. § 609(A)(1) (“A person who is arrested for a felony sex offense or other specified offense, including an attempt, conspiracy, criminal solicitation, or accessory after the fact of such offenses on or after September 1, 1999, shall have a DNA sample drawn or taken at the same time he is fingerprinted pursuant to the booking procedure.”), derived from Act No. 737, approved July 9, 1997, and amended in 2003 (adding the phrase “including an attempt, conspiracy, criminal solicitation, or accessory after the fact of such offenses”) and 2009.

Confusion over CODIS: Akron Faculty Senate Adopts an Anti-DNA Profiling Resolution

The faculty Senate weighed in on the University of Akron’s new DNA-profiling policy described in the October 31 posting, “Foolishness in Akron Raises a Serious Question about GINA.” Its resolution of November 5th characterizes the DNA sampling requirement as “of doubtful legality,” overbroad, and counterproductive. Not much to argue with here (although an adequate legal analysis of the policy’s legality under GINA is not trivial).

One of the Senate’s arguments, however, seems hyperbolic. The resolution states that the Board of Trustees’ new regulation “poses a serious threat to the personal privacy of University employees, not least because of the likelihood that DNA records submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation will remain in its database.” But this outcome is likely only if the FBI has the statutory authority to include in CODIS DNA identification profiles of not only those individuals who have been arrested or convicted of certain crimes, but of everyone applying for a job with the university.

As originally enacted, the DNA Identification of 1994 authorized the FBI to “establish an index of–(1) DNA identification records of persons convicted of crimes; (2) analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime scenes; and (3) analyses of DNA samples recovered from unidentified human remains.” 42 U.S.C. � 14132(a). In 1999, the Act was amended to include “(4) analyses of DNA samples voluntarily contributed from relatives of missing persons.” Plainly, these provisions do not authorize the inclusion of job applicants in the Convicted Offender DNA Index System.  

In 2004, � 14132(a)(1) was broadened to encompass “DNA identification records of–(A) persons convicted of crimes; (B) persons who have been charged in an indictment or information with a crime; and (C) other persons whose DNA samples are collected under applicable legal authorities, provided that DNA profiles from arrestees who have not been charged in an indictment or information with a crime, and DNA samples that are voluntarily submitted solely for elimination purposes shall not be included in the National DNA Index System.” Finally, in 2006, the categories became “(A) persons convicted of crimes; (B) persons who have been charged in an indictment or information with a crime; and (C) other persons whose DNA samples are collected under applicable legal authorities, provided that DNA samples that are voluntarily submitted solely for elimination purposes shall not be included in the National DNA Index System.”

This progression reflects a desire to share the fruits of state laws that require mere arrestees to provide DNA samples. Federal law currently permits the FBI to include in the set of records for CODIS searches the profiles of individuals arrested for violations of various state and federal criminal statutes. The interesting legal question is whether the recent expansion of � 14132(a)(1)(C) goes beyond arrestees. If a state such as Ohio were to change its DNA database statute to permit the profiles of applicants for government jobs to be added to its state database, would the FBI be allowed to include this group in its CODIS searches for other states? If the hypothetical Ohio law were an “applicable legal authority,” then this result would seem to follow from the text of the amended Act. Yet, I doubt that the broadening of the 1994 DNA Identification Act was meant to go beyond the incorporation of arrestee profiles in CODIS searches. Perhaps the legislative history of the 2004 and 2006 amendments would shed some light on this question. Comments are welcome.

References

Declan McCullagh, University Backs Away From New-Hire DNA Testing, CBS News Blogs: Taking Liberties, Nov. 6, 2009, http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/06/taking_liberties/entry5545118.shtml, last accessed Nov. 9, 2009