Arrestee Dna and Other Biometric Databases

Fifteen years ago, Louisiana adopted a law mandating that “[a] person who is arrested for a felony sex offense or other specified offense . . . shall have a DNA sample drawn or taken at the same time he is fingerprinted pursuant to the booking procedure.” Today, at least twenty-eight states and the federal government have laws providing for DNA sampling before conviction (“DNA-BC”). Most other countries with DNA databases also collect samples on arrest. These laws enjoyed a placid childhood, with surprisingly few constitutional challenges. Those idyllic days are over. After two federal courts of appeals cases upheld DNA-BC laws, two state supreme court opinions gutted similar ones. In response, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court promptly stayed the judgment of Maryland’s highest court,