Alonzo Jay King Jr., shown in 2009, was convicted of rape in Maryland based on DNA collected after an unrelated arrest. (Salisbury Police Department via Salisbury Daily Times/AP Photo)National editor's pick of the top news stories in the nation and world at this hour:
Police can take arrestees' DNA, high court says
The police can take the DNA of anyone they arrest, just as they can take their fingerprints and photograph, a divided Supreme Court ruled Monday. Some justices sharply dissented in the 5-4 ruling, with conservative Antonin Scalia oddly joining three liberal justices in dissent. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "Taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under
Medical staff wait near a poultry processing plant that was engulfed by a fire in northeast China's Jilin province's Mishazi township on Monday. (AP Photo)the Fourth Amendment." But Scalia, in a dissent read aloud in court, wrote, "Make no mistake about it: because of today's decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason." Twenty-eight states and the federal government now take DNA swabs after arrests. In the case under review, Maryland police took the DNA of an arrested man named Alonzo King and discovered that he had raped and robbed a woman six years earlier. Maryland law allows police to take DNA only from those arrested for serious crimes like murder, rape, assault, other violent crimes and burglary. The Supreme Court noted that other states have different laws but did not specify how serious the crime must be to warrant taking DNA. China poultry plant fire kills 119
A fire at a poultry plant in northeast China with locked exit doors killed at least 119 people and injured several dozen others, the state news agency said. It appeared to have been sparked by three early morning explosions caused by an ammonia leak, the fire department said. Pressured ammonia is used as part of the
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., shown in 2012, died Monday at age 89. (Mel Evans/AP Photo)cooling system in meat processing plants. State media quoted survivors as saying it was difficult for workers to escape because only one door to the plant was open and other exits were locked, and the fire spread quickly. Guo Yan, 39, was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying the emergency exit at her workstation could not be opened and she was knocked to the ground in the crush of workers trying to escape through a side door. "I could only crawl desperately forward," she said. "I worked alongside an old lady and a young girl, but I don't know if they survived or not." A local paper said the fire engulfed the building in just three minutes. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., dies at 89
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat who championed the law against smoking on planes and a national drinking age of 21, died Monday at the age of 89. He was the oldest member of the Senate and its last World War II veteran. President Barack Obama called Lautenberg "a proud New Jerseyan who lived America's promise as a citizen and fought to keep that promise alive as a senator." In failing health and using a wheelchair, Lautenberg came to the Senate floor in April to vote in favor of gun control legislation that failed. He announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election in 2014, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker said he intended to run for the seat. Republican Gov. Chris
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning watches at left as his defense attorney, David Coombs, speaks in front of military judge Army Col. Denise Lind on the opening day of Manning's court-martial in Fort Meade, Md., on Monday. (William Hennessy/AP Photo)Christie will appoint an interim successor, though New Jersey law is vague on whether a special election must be held or whether Christie's appointee can serve out the rest of Lautenberg's term. Bradley Manning trial opens; U.S. seeks life sentence
In opening statements Monday at Bradley Manning's court-martial in Fort Meade, Md., the prosecutor said the former intelligence analyst took hundreds of thousands of classified documents "and then dumped that information onto the Internet into the hands of the enemy." Capt. Joe Morrow's claims were rebutted by defense attorney David Coombs, who said Manning, 25, was "young, naive, but good-intentioned," selectively leaking material that he believed could make the world a better place. As an example Coombs cited an unclassified video of a 2007 U.S. Apache helicopter attack that killed civilians, including a Reuters photographer. "He believed this information showed how we value human life. He was troubled by that. He believed that if the American public saw it, they too would be troubled," Coombs said. Manning has already admitted to sending classified material to the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks website and pleaded guilty to charges that make him eligible for 20 years in prison. But the military wants to show that he aided the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.
Germany loses its longest word
In case you're wondering what happened to Germany's "law delegating beef label monitoring," the Rindfleischetikettierungsueberwachungsaufgabenuebertragungsgesetz is no more. And with it, the German language has lost its longest word. It was introduced by the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1999 as part of a fight against mad cow disease, but the DPA news agency reported Monday that the law was removed from the books last week, so the word has been scrapped. Never fear, though, there are plenty of other German uber-words with ridiculously precise meanings -- like Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaenswitwe, "widow of a Danube steamboat company captain."
The Wire, a summary of top national and world news stories from the Associated Press and other wire services, moves weekdays. Contact Karl Kahler at 408-920-5023; follow him at twitter.com/karl_kahler.
