Supreme Court allows DNA samples after arrest

Published June 3, 2013 4:00am ET



A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that police may collect DNA samples from people who have been arrested but not convicted of a crime, an opinion that overturns a ruling by Maryland’s highest court.

“Taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court’s 5-4 majority.

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