Senate Minority Leader
Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) released the following statement today regarding a
Supreme Court decision (Maryland v. King) allowing police departments to
collect DNA samples from people arrested for a crime:
“Today’s monumental decision by the Supreme Court makes it clear that
collecting DNA evidence from those arrested for a crime doesn’t violate the
Constitution or the rights of those involved. With this decision in hand,
our Commonwealth should act quickly and decisively to provide our criminal
justice system with a powerful tool that has tremendous power to exonerate the
innocent, prosecute the guilty, and identify those who may pose a further
threat to public safety.
My conversations with those in law enforcement, victims, their advocates, and
others have made a compelling case that DNA evidence collected after
arraignment can be properly safeguarded and disposed of if a conviction isn’t
obtained, and that the benefits from collecting it are substantial.
Senate Bill 1176 authorizes this modern-day version of fingerprinting, and the
Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security should act on it as soon
as possible.”
Click here to read the full text of Senate Bill 1176.
