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California Court Strikes Down DNA Collection Law

A state appeals court in California has struck down a state law that requires collection of DNA from people arrested on felony charges. The California court ruled that DNA collection by a cheek swab is an unreasonable search and seizure prohibited by the state's constitution. "The California DNA Act intrudes too quickly and too deeply into the privacy interests of arrestees," wrote the court. The appeals court also said that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Maryland v. King, which upheld a similar law in Maryland, did not apply in this case because of significant differences between each state's DNA collection laws. EPIC has participated as amicus in several cases concerning the collection of DNA. In Maryland v. King, EPIC argued that the government collection of DNA opens the door to misuse and threatens personal privacy. For more information, see EPIC: Maryland v. King, EPIC: Maryland v. Raines, EPIC: Kohler v Englade, EPIC: US v. Kincade, EPIC: Herring v. US, EPIC: Comments on TSA Biometric Systems, and EPIC: Genetic Privacy.


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