Jeremy White reports in the Sacramento Bee about the Supreme Court’s grant of review yesterday in People v. Buza, where the Court of Appeal held that a state law requiring DNA samples be taken from those arrested for felonies violates the state constitution. The article says that the now depublished Court of Appeal opinion had stopped many law enforcement agencies from taking DNA samples of arrestees.
We noted some time ago that review was likely in Buza because the court had granted review in the case once before and because the court has before it another DNA-collection case — People v. Lowe. Party briefing in Lowe is almost complete. The only surprise about yesterday’s court order in Buza is that it appears to be a straight grant rather than a grant-and-hold pending the disposition of Lowe.
