Authors usually like it when the Supreme Court cites their work. But a reference to a book in an opinion last week is drawing mixed reviews. The case, Maryland v. King, was about whether the authorities may take DNA samples from people arrested in connection with serious crimes. Justice Anth... [More]

Maryland's DNA law, which allows police to take samples of suspects' genetic material for possible matches to other crimes, will be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court next year, the justices announced Friday.   The law, a signature crime-fighting initiative of Gov. Martin O'Malley, was ... [More]

DNA testing has taken dangerous criminals off the streets, solved decades-old homicides, exonerated the falsely accused and freed the wrongly imprisoned. “It’s an exciting time,” Ed Wall, administrator of the state Justice Department’s Division of Criminal Investigation, s... [More]

Earlier this year, Maryland’s highest court held that collection of DNA samples from people arrested but not yet convicted violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. stayed that ruling while the Supr... [More]

Police in Maryland can resume collecting DNA from suspects charged — but not yet convicted — in violent crimes, and the U.S. Supreme Court might be inclined to let them do so permanently. U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued an opinion Monday saying there is a “... [More]

The Supreme Court signaled on Monday that it may review whether law enforcement officials may collect DNA samples from people who have been accused, but not convicted, of serious crimes. Chief Justice John Roberts put on hold an April 24 decision by a divided Maryland Court of Appeals overturning... [More]

An appellate panel should limit the scope of California's Proposition 69, which authorized DNA collection of anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony. In 2004 California voters approved Proposition 69, which authorized the collection of DNA evidence not just from convicted offenders and peopl... [More]

A federal appeals court decided to take another look at a California law that requires DNA samples to be taken from anyone arrested for a felony, not just after a conviction.   A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law in February on a 2-1 vote. But the court said ... [More]

The U.S. Supreme Court has put on hold — at least for a week — a ruling by Maryland’s highest court that prohibits DNA collection from suspects charged but not yet convicted in violent crimes.   Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler had asked the nation’s hig... [More]

The state has overemphasized collecting DNA samples from those arrested for crimes of violence to solve cases while not putting enough resources into gathering forensic evidence at crime scenes, according to an official with the Maryland Public Defender’s Office. State officials are mak... [More]