The Supreme Court has ruled that it is constitutional for police to take your DNA and file it in a database without a warrant and without convicting you of any crime at all. Yeah. That just happened. Essentially, the folks in charge of interpreting our founding legal document skimmed the Bill of Rights and totally missed the Fourth Amendment. Oops.
Let’s make this simple: You’re full of crap if you claim to be an advocate for “small government” or “individual liberty” or “privacy” while supporting this sort of thing. Yes, I’m sure it makes it easier for the courts and the cops to have the ability to seize your genetic code without cause or conviction, but, and this part is important, THE CONSTITUTION ISN’T DESIGNED TO MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR THE GOVERNMENT. It’s SUPPOSED to put hurdles and obstacles in the way. It’s INTENDED to block and impede them. THAT’S WHY WE HAVE IT, DAMN IT.
Now, with this ruling, the glove compartment in your car is legally protected from warrantless searches, but your DNA is not. And how did they justify this decision? By pointing out that the cops can already take your picture and your fingerprint. Brilliant. “Hey, we already have images of your face and finger, why shouldn’t we have your entire molecular makeup also?” I love when the government takes one step on our privacy then uses it to rationalize the second and third and fourth and twentieth steps. Hey, the TSA already gropes you at the airport, why shouldn’t they just conduct mandatory rectal exams? If my freaking DNA isn’t considered “mine” and therefore isn’t protected from warrantless seizure, what in the hell qualifies as mine? My money? My car? My dog? My ownership of these things is sacrosanct, but my ownership of my own hereditary material that contains the key to my distinct and fundamental physical characteristics ISN’T mine? What? In what universe does that make sense?
In America in the year 2013, a veil of suspicion covers all citizens, and therefore we all must be treated like criminals. That’s the state of affairs. Don’t talk to me about the Land of the Free. That place is about as real as Olympus at this point.
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