In an alarming vote of 46 to 1, the North Carolina Senate trampled on the right to be protected against unreasonable search and seizure. Only Sen. Ellie Kinnaird (D-Orange) voted against the bill that would allow the state to take a DNA sample from a person who is arrested — but not yet convicted — of certain crimes.
It is tempting to buy into the argument that this is about law and order, but think twice before accepting that. At its core, this bill is actually a slap in the face to the fundamental assumption of innocence until proven guilty — a fundamental premise of freedom and justice.
If this becomes comes law in our state — and it very well could since it is championed by the powerful Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper — then we will have surrendered a fundamental right to government power.
Sen. Kinnaird is an ultra-progressive legislator with whom I regularly disagree, but on this issue, she is right and she should be acknowledged for it.
JLF’s Daren Bakst, director of legal and regulatory affairs, writes about the bill here, and he discusses the implications in this brief interview.
