by Kenneth J. Theisen
The Bush regime has announced in the
Federal Register that it intends to take another step in the direction
of a police state by collecting DNA samples from all people arrested
by a federal law enforcement agency. This will include protestors
arrested by federal authorities.
granted the Department of Justice (DOJ) the power to expand DNA collection.
And the Bush administration has never been shy about expansion of its
police state powers. In addition to those it arrests, the federal
government intends to take DNA samples from any foreigners who are detained,
regardless of whether they are charged with a crime. The Department
of Homeland Security is behind the inclusion of detained foreigners.
CODIS contained 4,582,516 DNA profiles. It is presently the largest
DNA databank in the world. If the Bush regime is allowed to proceed
with its expansion plans, the database will become much larger. Federal
law enforcement agencies arrest approximately 140,000 additional persons
each year. This number does not include detained aliens.
The government portrays the DNA databank
as a crime-solving tool. DNA discovered in unsolved crimes will be matched
with the databank and crimes will be solved is the official line. But
thinking about who gets arrested by federal authorities raises more
sinister intentions. One large group of those frequently arrested
is political dissenters and protestors. As opposition to the Bush
regime’s fascist agenda grows, so will the number of those arrested.
Carrying protest signs outside the White House, the Supreme Court, or
federal buildings could land your DNA in the databank. Joining
a sit-in at your congressperson’s office to demand impeachment of
the president and the vice-president could lead to the same result.
The DNA databank has become an intimidation tool of the Bush regime.
Another factor to consider is that this
is only a beginning step to a much larger collection of DNA samples
for databanks such as this. Proposals have been put forward by
some to collect DNA at birth from everyone. While these more extreme
proposals have not been seriously considered yet because of their Orwellian
nature, they have been discussed. Keep in mind that initially
many DNA databases were initially set up to contain only the DNA of
sex offenders. That notion has been greatly expanded by both the federal
government and state governments as well.
According to legislative counsel for
the ACLU Jesselyn McCurdy, “Now innocent people’s DNA will be put
into this huge CODIS database, and it will be very difficult for them
to get it out if they are not charged or convicted of a crime.”
In theory, those charged but not convicted of a crime can ask the federal
government to excise their DNA profile, but the new regulations do not
provide a mechanism for doing this and there is no duty imposed on the
government to actually rid its database of any DNA profiles once they
are entered. But then due process has never been one of the highlights
of the Bush administration.
Fascism in 1930s Germany was not instituted
overnight nor will it be here. But each step in that direction
leads us closer to an openly fascist regime. As each step is taken it
also becomes more difficult to stop the fascist tide. Tomorrow
may be too late.
Ken Theisen is a veteran
activist of movements opposing U.S. imperialism, its wars and domination
of countries throughout the world, and an advocate against domestic
violence in the San Francisco Bay Area.