Comments on: 857,000 Set Free in Strasbourg http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/ Ancient Danger in a Human World Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:13:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: David W. Boles http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-289 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:19:37 +0000 http://carceralnation.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-289 It’s a big mess over here, Nicola — but the Feds could step in and overrule the states and require DNA from every citizen and the states would not be able to do anything about it. The Feds could also say, “never keep innocent DNA” and the states would have to follow, too — but that will never happen.

]]> By: Nicola Brown http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-288 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:16:05 +0000 http://carceralnation.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-288 Sadly I think you are correct and that the “terrorism” card will be played and that will be the route we go.
The story from Ohio highlights one of the main differences between the USA and us. You have different laws state by state and sometimes county by county. England and Wales are usually the same – Scotland always has always had a different legal system. Now Wales has been devolved it is slowly changing.
One county could NOT put through a law like that on the quiet in the UK – it would need to go through Parliament.

]]> By: David W. Boles http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-287 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:02:45 +0000 http://carceralnation.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-287 Those are some disturbing links, Nicola. I think we’ll pretty quickly be in the international realm of fingerprints/DNA/eye scans all being taken a routine matter by the authorities and stored as a necessary evil in the fight against terrorism. Blood is hard to get, mark, and store — while DNA is a couple of swap wipes and you’re digitized and done in the system.
Here’s some disturbing news from Ohio — from 2002!:

Quietly and without fanfare, the state of Ohio for three years has collected DNA profiles from people cleared of crimes. Supporters hail it as an invaluable tool to fight unsolved crimes. Critics see Big Brother intruding on innocent people. The uncommon practice is so unsettling that the Hamilton County coroner refuses to contribute DNA samples to the database.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/08/08/loc_database_keeps_dna.html

]]> By: Nicola Brown http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-286 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:47:12 +0000 http://carceralnation.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-286 Hear Hear !
In August this year the government said there were 39,095 DNA profiles of 10-18 year olds from England and Wales who were arrested but never cautioned or charged.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7563850.stm
Never mind the number of innocent adults.
What the powers that be are going to do however is not yet clear – there is also a worry about having to release serious criminals who are being bought to court because of previously stored DNA.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/3692261/Suspected-rapists-could-go-free-in-DNA-ruling-says-minister.html

]]> By: David W. Boles http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-285 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:02:32 +0000 http://carceralnation.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-285 That’s a fine point, Gordon — why keep the DNA of innocent people on file? You keep it because you suspect they might go bad sometime in the future and that isn’t a right pre-judging, yet that is quickly becoming the law in the USA: If you are detained for any reason, your DNA is taken and kept as a marker against you.

]]> By: Gordon Davidescu http://carceralnation.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-284 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:37:46 +0000 http://carceralnation.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/857000-set-free-in-strasbourg/#comment-284 Regardless of intent, keeping DNA profiles seems more interested in capturing the guilty than anything else, and that is just a little too confining for this land of the free / home of the brave

]]>