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Buccal swab for DNA requires a court order if defendant doesn’t consent. People v Smith, 2012 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1983, 2012 NY Slip Op 1896 (4th Dept. March 16, 2012):

An order compelling an individual to provide corporeal evidence, such as blood or saliva for DNA analysis, constitutes a search and seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment (see Skinner v Railway Labor Executives' Assn., 489 U.S. 602, 618; Schmerber v California, 384 U.S. 757, 767; Matter of Abe A., 56 NY2d 288, 295). Although no New York statute expressly authorizes courts to compel uncharged suspects to supply a DNA sample (see Abe A., 56 NY2d at 293-294; cf. CPL 240.40 [2]), the Court of Appeals has held that a court may issue an order to obtain a blood sample from a suspect so long as the People establish: "(1) probable cause to believe the suspect has committed the crime, (2) a clear indication' that relevant material evidence will be found, and (3) the method used to secure it is safe and reliable. In addition, the issuing court must weigh the seriousness of the crime, the importance of the evidence to the investigation and the unavailability of less intrusive means of obtaining it, on the one hand, against concern for the suspect's constitutional right to be free from bodily intrusion on the other. Only if this stringent standard is met ... may the intrusion be sustained" (Abe A., 56 NY2d at 291). Here, the court determined that the People satisfied the requirements of Abe A. set forth above, and defendant does not expressly challenge that determination. Rather, defendant contends that (1) he was denied due process because the second order compelling defendant to provide a buccal swab was not made upon notice to him; and (2) the method of collecting the swab, i.e., the use of the taser, was excessive and objectively unreasonable. We agree with defendant on both counts, and thus that reversal is required.

Placing a GPS on defendant’s car to track him for 26 days violated defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy and required a search warrant under Jones and relying on its lower court decision in Maynard. State v. Zahn, 2012 SD 19, 2012 S.D. LEXIS 19 (March 14, 2012):

[*P22] In this case, the State argues that Zahn could not have had a subjective expectation of privacy in his movements because he voluntarily exposed his movements to the public. We disagree. While a reasonable person understands that his movements on a single journey are conveyed to the public, he expects that those individual movements will remain "disconnected and anonymous." Maynard, 615 F.3d at 563 (citation omitted). Indeed, the likelihood that another person would observe the whole of Zahn's movements for nearly a month "is not just remote, it is essentially nil." Id. at 560. The prolonged use of a GPS device in this case enabled officers to determine Zahn's speed, time, direction, and geographic location within five to ten feet at any time. It also enabled officers to use the sum of the recorded information to discover patterns in the whole of Zahn's movements for twenty-six days. The prolonged GPS surveillance of Zahn's vehicle revealed more than just the movements of the vehicle on public roads; it revealed an intimate picture of Zahn's life and habits. We thus believe that Zahn had a subjective expectation of privacy in the whole of his movements. This subjective expectation of privacy was not defeated because Zahn's individual movements were exposed to the public.

. . .

[*P31] We thus hold that the attachment and use of a GPS device to monitor an individual's activities over an extended period of time requires a search warrant. Because the unfettered use of surveillance technology could fundamentally alter the relationship between our government and its citizens, we require oversight by a neutral magistrate. Wright, 2010 S.D. 91, ¶ 9, 791 N.W.2d at 794 (quoting Thunder, 2010 S.D. 3, ¶ 13, 777 N.W.2d at 378). Thus, the warrantless attachment and use of the GPS device to monitor Zahn's activities for nearly a month was unlawful, and the evidence obtained through the use of the GPS device should be suppressed.

[*P32] By our holding today, we do not deny police the ability to use this valuable law enforcement tool. We recognize that police must be allowed to use developing technology in the "often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime." Sweedland, 2006 S.D. 77, ¶ 22, 721 N.W.2d at 415 (quoting Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 240, 103 S. Ct. 2317, 2333, 76 L. Ed. 2d 527 (1983)). The Fourth Amendment "cannot sensibly be read to mean that police [should] be no more efficient in the twenty-first century than they were in the eighteenth" century. United States v. Garcia, 474 F.3d 994, 998 (7th Cir. 2007), cert. denied, 552 U.S. 883 (2007). But police must obtain a warrant before they attach and use a GPS device to monitor an individual's activities over an extended period of time.

America's addiction to war and madness, 3-19-12

Much of the often-agitated press appears obsessed with social media, tweeting and posting stories to attract measurable buzz, and possibly job security.

But the impact of Twitter and Facebook is not particularly significant in the competitive marketplace, according to Pew Research Center's annual "State of the Media Report" released Monday.

...

Marriage education improves relationships and lowers levels of marital distress, but doesn't deter divorce, at least in the short-term, says a new federally funded study.

The findings offer new evidence that teaching relationship skills to low-income married couples with children - especially when they are backed up by a competent ...

NEW YORK — A day after police broke up a rally at Manhattan's Zuccotti Park and arrested dozens, Occupy Wall Street protesters said Sunday that their movement would pick up momentum with the spring.

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Sheila Schuller Coleman, who abruptly announced she was forming the Hope Center of Christ ...

A bipartisan challenge to Obama's blind spot on rights in Russia.

Unions and liberal activists are using proxy rules to attack business political speech.

Peter Ferrara on the country's long-term economic growth prospects.

If Tehran returns to a pro-Western orientation, Moscow's stranglehold on the central Asian republics will be over.

As tax cuts expire and spending falls, the economy will be hit with a 3.5% decline in gross domestic demand.

The president's achievements may be overshadowed by high gas prices.

Despite Wikipedia, more people pay to access the encyclopedia website annually than paid for the print edition in any year.

Ignoring those who have suffered for their faith may win some favor for the Church, but risks alienating the island's faithful.

In a dispute that some are calling a modern-day updating of the biblical Parable of the Ungrateful Servant, a minority-owned bank that benefited from federal bailout funds is threatening to foreclose on one of the nation’s oldest black churches.

The 194-year-old Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Boston's ...

Anita Dunn and Ed Gillespie talk to Candy Crowley about the chances of the candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign.

Anita Dunn and Ed Gillespie talk to Candy Crowley about the female vote in the 2012 presidential campaign.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum explains his recent criticisms of the Obama administration.