HASKELL V. BROWN; DNA COLLECTION CHALLENGE BY ACLU IN COURT; CALIFORNIA A.G. DEFENDS THE LAW.

"The American Civil Liberties Union sued last October to overturn the law, claiming that taking DNA samples from convicted felons amounts to an unconstitutional search. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of appeals is hearing the case – Haskell v. Brown – today.

Brown, the Democratic candidate for governor, told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that there’s precedent for the law.

"This does minimally intrude upon someone’s life," said Brown. "So does a mug shot that stays in a file for the rest of your life, and so do fingerprints. And in this case, if you are arrested and then not charged, we have a procedure that will allow you to get your DNA out of our records."

The hearing on collecting DNA from suspects comes a week after detectives in L.A. arrested 57-year-old Lonnie Franklin, Jr. in the “Grim Sleeper” case."

REPORTERS NICK ROMAN AND CHERYL DEVALL: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO;

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"California State Attorney General Jerry Brown says collecting DNA from felons is legal and effective in fighting crime," the story, published earlier today on Southern California Public Radio begins, under the heading, "California Attorney General Jerry Brown: DNA collection legal, effective."

"Brown was in federal court in San Francisco today to defend Proposition 69 – the voter-approved law that lets authorities collect and store DNA samples from anyone convicted of a felony," the story continues.

"The American Civil Liberties Union sued last October to overturn the law, claiming that taking DNA samples from convicted felons amounts to an unconstitutional search. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of appeals is hearing the case – Haskell v. Brown – today.

Brown, the Democratic candidate for governor, told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that there’s precedent for the law.

"This does minimally intrude upon someone’s life," said Brown. "So does a mug shot that stays in a file for the rest of your life, and so do fingerprints. And in this case, if you are arrested and then not charged, we have a procedure that will allow you to get your DNA out of our records."

The hearing on collecting DNA from suspects comes a week after detectives in L.A. arrested 57-year-old Lonnie Franklin, Jr. in the “Grim Sleeper” case.

The LAPD says a state crime lab found markers in DNA collected at “Grim Sleeper” murder scenes that were similar to Franklin’s son, whose DNA was in the state database. The "familial link" led them to Franklin, who was arrested at his South L.A. home last week."

The story can be found at:

http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/13/brown-dna-collection-legal-/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-feature-cases-issues-and.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;