Sen. Ted Cruz issued scathing words of criticism for Supreme Court justices who ruled Monday in favor of letting police collect DNA samples from those arrested but not convicted, absent warrants.
It’s a “significant step towards government as Big Brother,” he said, The Daily Caller reported.
“All of us should be alarmed by this,” he said. “The excessive concentration of power in government is always inimical to liberty, and a national database of our DNA cannot be reconciled with the Fourth Amendment,” Mr. Cruz said, The Daily Caller reported.
Mr. Cruz clerked for Justice William Rehnquist. The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling on Monday that police may take DNA samples from suspects who are arrested — and not just from felons, as all 50 states already allow.
Justice Antony Kennedy called the collection of DNA akin to photographing and fingerprinting suspects. Mr. Cruz vehemently disagreed, The Daily Caller said.
“[This] intrusion of liberty will matter only for those not convicted,” he said, The Daily Caller reported. “Now the government can capture, without a search warrant, the most personal information about an individual and use it to search vast databases for unrelated offenses.”
SEE ALSO: Supreme Court upholds police authority to take DNA samples
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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