Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
Every now and again a client wants to object to giving a DNA sample once at the Brig. Objections based on religion, the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment, won't work.
Pursuant to congressional authorization, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation ("FBI") established the Combined DNA Index System
("CODIS"), a national database containing electronic DNA profiles of
convicted offenders from the state and federal systems, evidence from
crime scenes, and unidentified human remains that allows government
officials to match an electronic DNA profile to its donor's identity
for "law enforcement identification purposes," "judicial proceedings,"
and "criminal defense purposes." 42 U.S.C. § 14132(a), (b)(3).
To facilitate the efficacy of the CODIS, the DNA Act directs the
Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") to collect "a tissue, fluid, or other
bodily sample . . . on which a[n] . . . analysis of the
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) identification information" can be carried
out, id. § 14135a(c),
from "each individual in the custody of the [BOP] who is, or has been,
convicted of a qualifying Federal offense," which includes all
felonies, sexual abuse, and crimes of violence, id. § 14135a(a)(1)(B), (d). [Substitute DoD for BOP.]
The DNA Act serves the compelling governmental interest in accurately
and expeditiously solving past and future crimes in order to protect
the public and ensure conviction of the guilty and exoneration of the
innocent.
Having concluded that the government has a compelling interest in
extracting and storing Kaemmerling's DNA information for
identification, we have no trouble concluding that application of the
DNA Act to Kaemmerling "is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest."
Investigation ("FBI") established the Combined DNA Index System
("CODIS"), a national database containing electronic DNA profiles of
convicted offenders from the state and federal systems, evidence from
crime scenes, and unidentified human remains that allows government
officials to match an electronic DNA profile to its donor's identity
for "law enforcement identification purposes," "judicial proceedings,"
and "criminal defense purposes." 42 U.S.C. § 14132(a), (b)(3).
To facilitate the efficacy of the CODIS, the DNA Act directs the
Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") to collect "a tissue, fluid, or other
bodily sample . . . on which a[n] . . . analysis of the
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) identification information" can be carried
out, id. § 14135a(c),
from "each individual in the custody of the [BOP] who is, or has been,
convicted of a qualifying Federal offense," which includes all
felonies, sexual abuse, and crimes of violence, id. § 14135a(a)(1)(B), (d). [Substitute DoD for BOP.]
The DNA Act serves the compelling governmental interest in accurately
and expeditiously solving past and future crimes in order to protect
the public and ensure conviction of the guilty and exoneration of the
innocent.
Having concluded that the government has a compelling interest in
extracting and storing Kaemmerling's DNA information for
identification, we have no trouble concluding that application of the
DNA Act to Kaemmerling "is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest."
Kaemmerling v. Lappin, 553 F.3d 669 (D.C. Cir. 2009).