Aggregated News
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Supreme Court has been asked to rule on the constitutionality of a 2009 law allowing the state to take DNA samples from people charged with but not yet convicted of crimes.
Lower court rulings effectively have blocked the state from carrying out the law, says a lawyer who has been following the issue. The law was enacted after the 2008 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Randolph.
‘‘Effectively it’s a statewide stay,’’ Defender General Matt Valerio said of the current state of the law. That means it is blocking investigators from taking DNA samples from those who have been charged with felonies and certain misdemeanors unless and until the court gives the state the green light to do so.
Until passage of the law, the state was permitted to take DNA samples for storage in a database only from those who had been convicted of felonies. The samples are taken with a swab that collects saliva from the inside of the cheek and become part of both the state database and a national one...
Lower court rulings effectively have blocked the state from carrying out the law, says a lawyer who has been following the issue. The law was enacted after the 2008 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Randolph.
‘‘Effectively it’s a statewide stay,’’ Defender General Matt Valerio said of the current state of the law. That means it is blocking investigators from taking DNA samples from those who have been charged with felonies and certain misdemeanors unless and until the court gives the state the green light to do so.
Until passage of the law, the state was permitted to take DNA samples for storage in a database only from those who had been convicted of felonies. The samples are taken with a swab that collects saliva from the inside of the cheek and become part of both the state database and a national one...