In 1998 California began requiring anyone convicted of a serious crime to surrender a DNA sample. In 2004, the law was expanded so that DNA was taken from “any adult person arrested or charged with any felony offense.” That’s charged, not convicted.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this week upheld that expansion. Writing for the majority, Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. stated plainly this: “we conclude that the Government’s compelling interests far outweigh arrestees’ privacy concerns.”