'There is no gene for the human spirit': Tony "If it's OK for me, it must be OK for everyone, right?" Blair voluntarily gave a sample of his own DNA in 1999, and the UK now has the world's largest database of DNA samples - about 3.7 million, with a significant percentage of those obtained from completely innocent people including children, with no prospect of their removal. A respected Appeals Court Judge he may be, but the future Lord Justice Sedley actually wants for the UK is chilling, though thankfully ruled out (at least for now). Will one of m'learned friends please lend him their copy of Brazil.
I don't think any society will ever achieve the total eradication of crime, no matter how extensive the powers of its police. I have an issue with Sedley's partial rationale that it's not right there's a disproportionate number of ethnic minorities on the database already and that therefore the solution to this imbalance is that it should be mandatory for everyone, the completely innocent included, and while we're at it we have to throw in everyone else who sets foot on these shores. It's a weak argument and would be a major step towards something resembling a police state existing under the veneer of a democracy, and once that's achieved, and there's still crime, what comes after that? If it has to exist, keep it for those already convicted.
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peteryoung
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Date: 2007-09-06 11:56 am (UTC)Whether we should have it in the first place is another question, of course.
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Date: 2007-09-06 12:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-06 12:30 pm (UTC)They spoil all my fun. :(
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Date: 2007-09-06 12:35 pm (UTC)