DNA database constitutionality ruling [NJ SC] News
DNA database constitutionality ruling [NJ SC]

State of New Jersey v. John O'Hagen, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appeals Division, September 7, 2005 [ruling that a law requiring all convicted criminals to register for a state DNA database in New Jersey is constitutional]. Excerpt:

The minimal intrusion resulting from the collection of a DNA sample is substantially outweighed by the state's need to deter and detect recidivist offenders and the public's interest in promptly identifying and accurately prosecuting the actual perpetrators of crime.

Read the full text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Nuremberg race laws went into effect in Nazi Germany

On September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany became effective, racially defining German citizenship and making Jews outcasts. The Reich Health Office issued the following chart in 1936 to assist in ascertaining the "admissibility of marriage between Aryans and non-Aryans": white circles represent on the chart are "pure Germans", while the circles with black indicate the proportion of Jewish blood.

Review the Laws for Protection of the German Race on Citizenship, German Blood and German Honor, and Hereditary Health.

KKK bombs Church in Alabama

On September 15, 1963, members of the Klu Klux Klan bombed a predominantly African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. The blast at the 16th Street Baptist Church killed four young girls and injured twenty other people. Despite an investigation by the F.B.I., no one was charged with responsibility for the crime until Robert Chambliss was convicted of murder in 1977. His accomplices, Thomas Blaton, Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry, were not tried and convicted until about twenty-five years later.
Learn more about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the trials of Blanton and Cherry from NPR.

Nuremberg Laws went into effect in Nazi Germany

On September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany became effective, racially defining German citizenship and making Jews outcasts. The Reich Health Office issued the following chart in 1936 to assist in ascertaining the "admissibility of marriage between Aryans and non-Aryans": white circles represent on the chart are "pure Germans", while the circles with black indicate the proportion of Jewish blood.

Review the Laws for Protection of the German Race on Citizenship, German Blood and German Honor, and Hereditary Health.