Court: FBI DNA Program Unconstitutional
The FBI practice of requiring convicts to give blood for a criminal DNA database was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court on Thursday. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided that such a practice was a violation of the Fourth Amendment guarentee against illegal searches. If it stands, the decision would also nullify numerous similar state laws but it is unclear if it would apply retroactively, or only to future cases. The Justice Department is expected to appeal.
FBI DNA program struck down
MSNBC, October 2, 2003
