Another Parting Kick In The Crotch From Bush

Immigration and civil liberties groups condemned a new U.S. government policy to collect DNA samples from all non-citizens detained by authorities and all people arrested for federal crimes.

According to the WAPO article, the new Justice Department rule takes effect January 9, and dramatically expands a federal law enforcement database of genetic identifiers. Under that program, DNA sampling is limited to convicted criminals and arrestees from 13 states.

The change could add as many as 1.2 million people a year to the national database. Critics said the new rule raises constitutional and privacy concerns. Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty project, said the change "turns the presumption of innocence on its head."

Charles H. Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the U.S. rule "casts civilly detained immigrants as criminals, requiring them to submit to DNA testing even in cases where there is no suggestion of any criminal violation."

Bush forged ahead with the new rule, despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that a nearly-identical British policy to collect fingerprints and DNA of all criminal suspects (including those later deemed innocent) violated privacy rights.