ABA Journal: An en banc federal appeals court has upheld a law authorizing the collection of DNA samples from all federal arrestees.

In an 8-6 decision, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that routinely collecting DNA samples from arrestees for a national database does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The Legal Intelligencer covered the decision (PDF).

“DNA profiling is simply a more precise method of ascertaining identity and is thus akin to fingerprinting, which has long been accepted as part of routine booking procedures,” the majority opinion said.