DNA Bill Assaults our Liberties in R.I.

The presumption of innocence lies at the heart of our system of criminal justice, but a bill that will soon be voted on by the Rhode Island House of Representatives deeply undercuts that presumption. The bill, H-7304, requires DNA samples to be taken from individuals who are merely arrested, but never convicted, for a wide array of crimes so that the samples can be placed in a national DNA database.

Even more troubling, the bill contains few protections for the many innocent people who will have their DNA samples taken. (The law already requires that a DNA sample be taken from any person convicted of a felony.) In some states with such laws, DNA samples are automatically expunged if the person is found innocent or the charges are dismissed. H-7304, however, requires the innocent person to go through numerous hoops to expunge a sample that really didn’t deserve to be taken in the first place.

Specifically, the aggrieved person must go to the trouble and expense of filing a formal court petition for expungement, serving notice of the petition upon...