Virginia is to begin collecting DNA samples today from anyone charged with a violent felony, launching the most aggressive effort in the country to catalogue genetic samples of people not yet convicted of crimes.

Under a law passed last year, a saliva or tissue sample is to be taken from anyone arrested and charged with such crimes as murder, rape, assault and burglary. The DNA profiles of those arrested will be entered into the state's DNA database -- along with the profiles of convicted felons -- for comparison with evidence gathered at crime scenes. If the person is acquitted or the charge is dismissed by a judge, the data will be expunged.

This is wrong and should be opposed before it spreads to other states. People who merely have been arrested and charged are not guilty in the eyes of the law. It is a violation of their civil liberties to require them to submit to DNA testing for inclusion in a databank before they have been convicted.

The Virginia law says they can petition the court to delete their DNA sample from the database if they are acquitted or the charge is dismissed. Why should the onus be on them to move for the deletion? How many can afford lawyers to figure out who to petition and how? And what about the cases that don't end with conviction, acquittal or dismissal on the charged count?

"James Connell, a Fairfax defense lawyer, said yesterday that he is concerned that the DNA profiles could remain in the system despite the lack of a conviction.
"There are several ways that a person can go to court and not be convicted but not have a dismissal or an acquittal," Connell said. For example, he said, prosecutors can choose to not pursue a charge. That would not be entered into the computers as a dismissal by a judge."

"Ira Robbins, a criminal law professor at American University, said he predicts a flood of legal challenges to the law. "To collect DNA too early in the process runs afoul of civil liberties in ways that I think are fundamentally unfair," Robbins said. "It makes a lot of sense to expand DNA databanks, but not in this way. We're talking about people who are arrested and not convicted."