Justice Scalia: “The Fourth Amendment Must Prevail”

Can a person arrested–but not convicted–for a crime be made to give up a DNA sample which will be used to see if they have committed an unsolved crime? Yes said the United States Supreme Court last week, by a narrow 5-4 decision.

In a week that revealed unprecedented attacks on American privacy, the Supreme Court leaped on top of the pile. It  held (Maryland v. King) that a Maryland law that allows bucal swabbing upon arrest is essential for identification of those arrested, and may be compared with samples left at the scene of unsolved crimes, regardless if the person was never suspected of the unsolved crime.

Justice Antonin Scalia

Citizen’s Elections Are Underway in Connecticut

Dan Malloy has done something extraordinary, and something nobody else in Connecticut politics has done before him. In his quest to obtain the Democratic Party nomination to run for Governor of Connecticut, the former Stamford Mayor has raised more than $250,000 in over 4,000 small individual donations of $100 or less. That’s quite an accomplishment. Imagine the effort required to raise that number of small donations in a matter of months –the cocktail parties set up by countless hosts across the state, crisscrossing the state to attend those events, the paperwork required to track each donation; it’s mind boggling.