[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] ruled [text] 4-3 Thursday that it is constitutional for a judge to require a convicted sex offender to turn over DNA samples to the Canadian National DNA Data Bank [official website], even if the offender was convicted before the enactment of the 2000 law establishing the bank. The Court's decision reversed a prior ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal [official website], but Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant [official profile] has already issued a statement [press release] welcoming the high courts ruling. The Supreme Court did not address whether a mandatory system of requiring sex offenders to donate DNA samples would be constitutional. Canadian Press has more.

The US Senate is still considering a bill [text] entitled the DNA Fingerprinting Act of 2005 sponsored by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) [official website] that would expand the scope of those who would have to submit samples to the FBI Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) [official website] beyond convicted criminals to those suspected of federal crimes. A similar measure has already been passed by the House.