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Police Take DNA from kids without parental consent...

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  • debloves2ride
    debloves2ride Posts: 386
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    Wow - as a parent I would be highly upset if my child was "interviewed" by the police and DNA taken without parental consent. The article states it isn't against the law, so I guess the police had the right to do so, but I would be one unhappy parent.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,793 Member
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    I don't know how I feel about it. Bottom line is that if the DNA doesn't match, then that person will be cleared, and, if the DNA does match, then I don't give a *kitten* about that kids' rights.

    Doesn't matter anyways. If it is illegal to collect DNA from a minor, the whole process of collecting the DNA will ultimately get the guilty party off, because our legal system has little to do with true justice and more to to with manipulation of the legal system.

    Everybody is so concerned about some teenage miscreants' rights. Who cares about the dead 13 yr old girl?
  • mikajoanow
    mikajoanow Posts: 584 Member
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    I have more issue with them talking to the kids and "interviewing" them without a parent or lawyer there. Not that it always happens, but I think some people have been in the wrong place and the wrong time and pushed into saying something that wasn't true by the police. Kids can be easily manipulated.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,793 Member
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    I have more issue with them talking to the kids and "interviewing" them without a parent or lawyer there. Not that it always happens, but I think some people have been in the wrong place and the wrong time and pushed into saying something that wasn't true by the police. Kids can be easily manipulated.

    I agree with you for the most part. It is a shame that we have to concern ourselves more with the rights of the suspect that that of the victim.

    Guilty or not Guilty? Really hase no bearing once a case gets to court.
  • Italian_Buju
    Italian_Buju Posts: 8,030 Member
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    I would lose my bloody mind if that was my child.......
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I don't know how I feel about it. Bottom line is that if the DNA doesn't match, then that person will be cleared, and, if the DNA does match, then I don't give a *kitten* about that kids' rights.

    Doesn't matter anyways. If it is illegal to collect DNA from a minor, the whole process of collecting the DNA will ultimately get the guilty party off, because our legal system has little to do with true justice and more to to with manipulation of the legal system.

    Everybody is so concerned about some teenage miscreants' rights. Who cares about the dead 13 yr old girl?

    I think it is wrong to immediately jump to the black/white dichotomy, i.e. being concerned about a potential defendant's rights automatically means you "don't care" about the victim.

    The concept of equal and fair justice, a bedrock of American values, requires that both be considered. The rights you protect for some "miscreant" today might be the ones you need tomorrow.

    It's not always a pleasant thing to do and I can certainly understand the emotional reaction of "screw the bad guys--they deserve whatever they get". It is one of the challenges of democracy and the American Constitution--to stand up for abstract concepts when you feel a visceral anger and contempt, and every other part of your brain is screaming for quick and thorough punishment of the offender.

    And we can easily go too far in the opposite direction (protecting defendant's rights), which is why this is one of those issues that does (and should) provoke energetic debate.

    Overall, I still think that our personal privacy and liberty are extremely important, and that's why I feel strongly that concepts like "probable cause" and "due process" are so important.

    I think primarily due to the contrived fearfulness that emerged from the so-called "war on terror", we have allowed unacceptable erosion of our personal freedoms, and I am especially concerned about the significantly increased --and seemingly unquestioned -- power we have given to law-enforcement officials.
  • dragonbait0126
    dragonbait0126 Posts: 568 Member
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    I have a couple of concerns about this.
    1) The crime didn't happen on school grounds. Why are they pulling the kids out of class and involving the school in the investigation? Why not obtain a list of students in the area and then contact them outside of school time? Why are the cops not contacting the parents? Instead they are pulling kids out of class to "interview" them and having the school notify the parents. I also have a concern about the students being "interviewed" without anyone there looking out for the minor. I realize it's not an interrogation but it could quickly become one.

    2) The whole thing about them collecting the DNA of all the students is a fishing expedition. I'd be willing to bet they don't have a warrent to collect DNA and are going to argue it as the student gave us permission to take a DNA sample. That in turn goes back to the whole issue of not having anyone there looking out for the minor and ensuring that the minor actually understands what is going on.

    I'm certainly not trying to bash on the police here. I'd like to believe that they took the time to explain everything properly to each student and made sure that each one truly understood what was happened and what the implications of giving up a DNA sample meant. I'd actually love to go into something with law enforcement some day. That being said, if that was my child, I'd have a real issue with the police not contacting me and pulling my kid out of class instead of contacting the parents.

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