Bill Description: House Bill 157 would allow government to collect and retain DNA samples from people who commit certain misdemeanors, expanding a practice that currently extends only to felonies.

Rating: -2

Does it directly or indirectly create or increase penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes? Conversely, does it eliminate or decrease penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes?

House Bill 157 would create sections 19-2512A and 19-5507, Idaho Code, and amend several other sections of code to define a "serious crime" and require that "at the time of sentencing, the court shall order the collection of a DNA sample and thumbprint impression from any person who is convicted of, or pleads guilty to, any serious crime." 

These newly defined serious crimes would include "any felony crime," "the attempt to commit any felony crime," and a long list of misdemeanors, including indecent exposure, soliciting commercial sexual activity, domestic violence, and injury to children. The characterization as a serious crime would apply "regardless of the form of judgment or withheld judgment and regardless of the sentence imposed or disposition rendered." 

Those who are required to provide a DNA sample under this law can be charged up to $500 per sample and up to $2,000 in the aggregate if multiple samples are collected. 

Felonies are serious crimes. That's why the distinction between felonies and misdemeanors exists. This bill continues the disturbing trend of increasingly treating misdemeanors like felonies, which undermines the distinction between the two and gives government more power to infringe on individual rights. 

(-1)

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

House Bill 157 presents several constitutional concerns, including the threat DNA collection poses to privacy. But one of the more significant concerns is that the bill would be retroactive, saying the "requirements for submission to tests and procedures for obtaining a DNA sample and thumbprint impression for persons who are convicted of any misdemeanor crime defined as a serious crime in section 19-5502(10), Idaho Code, are mandatory, and apply to those persons convicted of, or who plead guilty to, such qualifying misdemeanor crimes prior to July 1, 2025." [Emphasis added]

The bill creates some ambiguity about how broadly this retroactive component would be applied, but at minimum, any person who is currently incarcerated or even on parole for a previously committed misdemeanor deemed a serious crime under this law would be required to submit a DNA sample and be subject to the associated fees.

Considering that many misdemeanor convictions are the result of negotiated plea agreements, it is troubling that this law would effectively override those agreements and impose serious invasions of privacy and associated fees that were not part of the agreement. 

(-1)