CONTACT: Meredith Curtis, media@aclu-md.org or 410-889-8555

ACLU statement regarding the 6/3/13 Supreme Court decision in Maryland v. King, regarding warrantless collection of DNA from arrestees. The following can be attributed to Steven Shapiro, Legal Director for the national ACLU:  

"Today's decision creates a gaping new exception to the Fourth Amendment.  As Justice Scalia's dissent convincingly demonstrates, DNA testing of arrestees has little to do with identification and everything to do with solving unresolved crimes. While no one disputes the importance of that interest, the Fourth Amendment has long been understood to mean that the police cannot search for evidence of a crime - and all nine Justices agreed that DNA testing is a search - without individualized suspicion.  Today's decision eliminates that crucial safeguard.  At the same time, it is important to recognize that other states have DNA laws that are even broader than Maryland's and may present issues that were not resolved by today's ruling."