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Professor Albert “Buzz” Scherr comments on DNA “surreptitious sampling” for New York Times

On the front page of today's New York Times, Amy Harmon reports on the increasing use of and concern about "surreptitious sampling" — the law enforcement practice of retreiving DNA "on the sly" from a suspect's tossed cigarette or used soda can.

The practice is raising Fourth Amendment concerns about whether it constitutes unreasonable search and seizure.

Harmon turned to Pierce Law Professor Albert “Buzz” Scherr for an expert perspective:

Some legal experts advocate curbs on surreptitious sampling. Albert E. Scherr, a professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., who has a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the practice, suggests that the police be required to meet the “reasonable suspicion” standard before secretly collecting DNA. “You’re not asking them to let criminals go free,” he said. “You’re just asking them to investigate a little more.”

 

Read the complete story, “Lawyers Fight DNA Samples Gained on Sly”