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House lawmakers sent a bill to the Senate that allows law enforcement to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for a felony.
public domainHouse lawmakers sent a bill to the Senate that allows law enforcement to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for a felony.
Rep. Greg Steuerwald (R-Danville), the measure’s author, says the bill “identifies the guilty” and “exonerates the innocent.”
The samples would be compared to others in a national database, helping, Steuerwald says, link people to past crimes.
“It can only be used for criminal identification. That is it. It is not online; it is not open to the public,” Steuerwald says.
But Rep. Tom Washburne (R-Inglefield) takes issue with the bill on several fronts. He doesn’t trust the national database and says the measure violates privacy and goes against constitutional rights.
“Taking your DNA upon arrest is exactly what the Fourth Amendment and Indiana’s Article 1, Section 11 were designed to guard against – seizures that are not based on suspicion,” Washburne says.
The U.S. Supreme Court disagrees with Washburne, it upheld the constitutionality of a similar law in Maryland in a 5-4 decision in 2013.
The bill advanced 81 to 16.
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