The USA Patriot Act

which George W. signed into law last month allows for collection of a person's DNA by the government for "qualifying federal offenses, as determined by the Attorney General." Is this a good idea?

By David Shafer (compiler)


(A)
BARBARA RHODES, 51
Dry- cleaner
Southeast Portland

 


(B)
RYAN SANBERG, 28
Hot-dog vendor
Salem

 


(C)
MOYRA OWEN, 32
Student/ massage therapist
Northeast Portland

 


(D)
RAFAEL DE ARCE, 49
Photographer
Northeast Portland

 

 

ANSWER #1: "I'm all for it. I think DNA is a very important part of law enforcement, and if somebody's already been convicted of something, taking a DNA sample is definitely something that should be done."

ANSWER #2: "I don't like it at all. It's a Fourth Amendment violation. In times like this, it's easy to add or amend laws, but it's extremely difficult to undo these later. The Constitution has protected us since 1787, and now I fear we're headed towards a police state."

ANSWER #3: "I think that's a good idea. That way, terrorists could be connected to other crimes. The government can have a sample of my DNA; I don't have anything to hide."

ANSWER #4: "You can see the value of this from a forensic standpoint. But it sounds too vague to me. I can see a lot of room for, well, indiscretion, and I don't have any particular faith in the government--I mean faith that they're going to use that database for what they say they'll use it for."

 

ANSWERS: #1-B, #2-D, #3-A, #4-C

WWeek 2015

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