DNA Check Is OK After Arrest

Divided 3rd Circuit overturns ruling in Pittsburgh case

In a precedent-setting ruling. the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that collecting DNA samples from people who have been arrested -- but not yet convicted -- is constitutional.

The appeals court ruled that a federal judge in Pittsburgh was wrong when he required federal agents to get a search warrant before obtaining a DNA sample from a man charged with dealing drugs two years ago.

In an 8-6 ruling, the circuit judges sided with federal prosecutors who appealed the order by U.S. Judge David Cercone, who had ruled it was unconstitutional.

Proponents say the practice is similar to fingerprinting suspects, so that information can be entered into a database and used to compare to prints found at future crime scenes. The majority opinion, written by Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, concluded that DNA matching allows authorities to quickly clear potential suspects.

But opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say it goes a step too far and is an unreasonable invasion of privacy. The dissenting judges said permitting the Government to extract such information presents the potential for abuse which the Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent.

The drug suspect's attorney says he may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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