IMPORTANCE OF COLLECTING DNA - CONCERNING THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF MANDATORY DNA COLLECTION PRE-CONVICTION

Summary

In a 5-4 opinion authored by Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court ruled that suspicion less collection of the DNA of those arrested for a serious crime did not violate the Fourth Amendment. The reasonableness of a search is determined by weighing the government’s interest in collection with the degree to which the search intrudes on privacy. The Court found that although swabbing an arrestee’s cheek for DNA collection did constitute a search, the minimal physical invasiveness of the collection technique was important in evaluating the reasonableness of the search. Additionally, arrestees enjoy a diminished expectation of privacy. Kennedy found that the government’s interest in identifying arrestees, including discovering one’s criminal history, weighed strongly in favor of collecting DNA samples, as this is a highly effective form of identification. The Court analogized to police practices of taking photographs or collecting fingerprints of arrestees, finding that the DNA collection merely served the same function more effectively. Ultimately, the Court weighed what it characterized as a minimal physical intrusion against the potential of DNA to provide law enforcement with valuable information about arrestees, concluding that DNA collection was a reasonable Fourth Amendment search.

Justice Scalia’s four-Justice dissent argued that the Fourth Amendment categorically forbids suspicion less searches justified only by the government’s interest in detecting crime. Scalia challenged the majority’s assertion that the government’s interest in collection was identification of arrestees, arguing instead that the DNA collection was meant to detect crimes. Such a purpose made the search the type of indiscriminate, general search that the Fourth Amendment was meant to protect against.

Questions Presented

Whether the Fourth Amendment allows the states to collect and analyze DNA from people arrested and charged with serious crimes.

Background

The Maryland Supreme Court recently considered the constitutionality of certain portions of Maryland’s DNA Collection Act, amended in 2008, which allows collection of DNA samples from “individuals arrested for crimes (or attempted crimes) of violence or burglary prior to being found guilty or pleading guilty.” King v. State of Maryland, 42 A.3d 549 (Md. 2012). The court in King held that the warrantless collection of defendant Alonzo King’s DNA upon his arrest violated the Fourth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court then granted certiorari to hear the case.

Factual Background

Alonzo King was arrested in Maryland for assault in April 2009. At the time of his arrest, pursuant to the Maryland DNA Collection Act, police collected a DNA sample from him using a cheek swab. The Act requires law enforcement to collect DNA samples from all individuals arrested for violent crimes. This sample was processed and profiled, then entered into a law enforcement database and compared to DNA profiles from unsolved “cold” cases. King’s DNA matched a sample gathered from an unsolved sexual assault in 2003.

With a “hit” from the DNA database as the sole piece of probable cause against King, a grand jury indicted him on ten charges, including rape. The police obtained a search warrant to collect a second DNA sample, via buccal swab, from King to investigate these new charges. The second buccal swab also matched the DNA sample taken from the sexual assault. This new evidence ultimately led to King being convicted of rape and sentenced to life without parole.