-Caveat Lector- ["The innocent have nothing to fear..."] Source: http://www.tampabayonline.com/news/news1011.htm 12/15/98 -- 1:53 AM Groups upset by New York police proposal to take DNA - ------------------------- NEW YORK (AP) - Angering civil libertarians who fear ``1984''-style tactics, Police Commissioner Howard Safir is suggesting that police take a DNA sample along with the fingerprints of everyone arrested. ``The innocent have nothing to fear,'' Safir said Monday. ``Only if you are guilty should you worry about DNA testing.'' But civil rights leaders said even the innocent should worry about the plan, which some contend amounts to an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The proposal would need approval from the state Legislature to become reality. ``I think this is the official ushering in of a George Orwellian society in New York City,'' said Michael Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration has come under fire recently for cutting City Hall off from virtually all public access and for installing more security cameras to monitor streets. Norman Siegel, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the DNA proposal is the latest effort by the Giuliani administration to erode civil rights. ``If someone wants to march and doesn't have a permit, or if someone goes to the steps of City Hall to read a proclamation, he or she will get arrested,'' Siegel said. ``Under Safir's DNA proposal, the government will obtain their DNA, and that's a frightening prospect. Why should the government have that information on that individual?'' Giuliani called opponents of the plan captives of ``old left-wing thinking.'' ``The taking of DNA evidence - from the point of view of anyone but the most excessive knee-jerk ideologues - is a very, very helpful thing, it's a good thing,'' he said. ``DNA can help prove who actually committed violent crime; it can help prove paternity.'' Under Safir's plan, which he described Monday to students at the Bronx High School of Science, police would take a swabbing from inside a suspect's cheek - a standard method of collecting DNA - and put test results into a database for future reference against repeat offenders. DNA, the unique genetic blueprint of each person, is considered by legal and forensics experts to be as reliable as fingerprints and far more useful in identifying culprits of certain crimes. Safir said a suspect's DNA sample would be destroyed if he were acquitted or cleared. Many states allow DNA testing of certain convicts, New York among them. Only in Louisiana does the testing apply to people under arrest. Meyers said citizens nationwide are experiencing a crackdown on civil rights. ``We will all be suspects in a matter of years,'' he said. Copyright 1998 Associated Press. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
