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Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court

Hayes v. Florida (cont.)

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Photo of five fingerprints on a page
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) (see reuse policy).

Although there is no U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing the seizure of an individual's DNA, in Hayes v. Florida, the Court held it unconstitutional to remove a suspect to a police station for fingerprinting in the absence of probable cause or consent.

The Hayes decision affirmed an earlier holding in Davis v. Mississippi, which invalidated the police fingerprinting of an individual brought to the police station as a part of a dragnet operation searching for suspects. 7

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