Ruling OK's mandatory DNA tests for parolees
Federal parolees may be required to provide blood samples for a national DNA database used to solve crimes, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday. The 6-to-5 decision, which overturned a three-judge panel's ruling last October, brings the Ninth Circuit in line with other appellate courts around the country that have examined the four-year-old federal DNA law. The law requires federal prisoners, parolees, and probationers convicted of a variety of crimes, including murder, sexual abuse, and burglary, to provide blood samples for a national DNA bank monitored by law enforcement. Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who wrote the ruling that was overturned, said in a dissent that the new decision puts all Americans at risk "of having our DNA samples permanently placed on file in federal cyberspace . . . Even governments with benign intentions have proved unable to regulate or use wisely vast stores of information they collect regarding their citizens."
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