The (Lack of) Meaning of the Supreme Court's Disposition of Raynor v. State

Yesterday, Popular Science reported that a “recent refusal by the Supreme Court means that involuntary DNA collection isn't unconstitut...

Genetic Determinism and Essentialism on the Electronic Frontier

The latest bit of what, in the scientific world, is discredited genetic determinism, comes from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Th...

Buza Reloaded: California Balancing

This is the fourth installment on Buza II , the opinion of the California court of appeal that invalidates the state's DNA-on-arrest law...

Buza Reloaded: Fourth Amendment Balancing

This is the third installment on Buza II , the opinion of the California court of appeal that invalidates the state's DNA-on-arrest law....

Buza Reloaded: The Fourth Amendment Framework

This is the second installment of remarks on Buza II , the opinion of the California court of appeal that invalidates the state's DNA-on...

Buza Reloaded: Court Shifts Ground But Again Invalidates California’s DNA-on-arrest Law

Buza I For the reasons we have set forth, we conclude that the DNA Act ... unreasonably intrudes on such arrestees' expectation of pri...

The Constitutionality of DNA Collection Before Conviction: An Updated Scorecard

Note : This posting updates previous ones. It is current as of July 17, 2014. Seventeen years ago, Louisiana adopted a law mandating that ...

The Impact of Medina's Marginal Balancing on DNA Databases and Sample Retention

The opinion of the Supreme Court of Vermont in State v. Medina is a first. This is not because it strikes down a law requiring all individu...

State v. Medina: Can the Vermont Supreme Court Overrule the U.S. Supreme Court on DNA Databases?

Today the Vermont Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional Vermont’s law requiring individuals charged with any felony to submit to DNA...

Kansas Court of Appeals Rejects Post-King Challenge to DNA Collection on Arrest

This year, the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld the state's DNA-on-arrest law against a Fourth Amendment challenge. The result is not surp...

What Is Wrong with People v. Lowe? More on DNA-on-Arrest Laws After Maryland v. King

Less than 24 hours before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion that avoided addressing the constitutionality of...

The Ninth Circuit's Minimal Opinion in Haskell v. Harris

Two days ago, eleven judges of the Ninth Circuit issued a long awaited opinion in Haskell v. Harris . 1 / The en banc court ruled against th...