North Carolina bill would expand collecting DNA samples

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

Submitted by cjarvis on 2011-04-28 13:49

A proposal to vastly expand the state’s authority to collect DNA samples from criminal suspects hit a roadblock today when the bill’s sponsor admitted the details about the proposed law’s impact haven’t yet been worked out.

The bill would allow police and sheriff’s deputies to collect genetic swabs from people who have been arrested for a broad range of offenses, not just for violent felonies, as is the case under a law that just took effect in February. Before that, samples were collected only if someone had been convicted of a violent felony.

More than a dozen new crimes would be added to the law, including patient abuse and neglect, adulterated or misbranded food or drugs with the intent to cause serious injury or death, transporting a child outside the state in violation of a custody order, abandoning a child for six months, and failing to enroll in a monitoring program.

The bill by Rep. Justin Burr, a Republican from Albermarle, passed a subcommittee on Wednesday but ran into opposition on two fronts on the House floor Thursday. The first came from uber-libertarian Republican Rep. Glen Bradley of Youngsville, who said taking DNA without a warrant violates the U.S. Constitution. It also ran into resistance from Democrats, who asked how much it would cost and how many suspects would be affected. The law that just took effect in February cost about $1.5 million, one lawmaker noted.

Burr acknowledged that the legislative research staff hadn’t yet provided an analysis of the bill. Without answers to questions about the details, the bill was set aside pending that report.

Read more: http://projects.newsobserver.com/un...d_expand_collecting_dna_samples#ixzz1KyWqf3al

Booyah! My buddy Glen (GunnyFreedom on the Ron Paul forums) is the kind of representative we need more of and I'm envious of North Carolina having a good man like him.