Sex Assault Victim Sues City for Using Her DNA to Arrest Her (1)

A sexual assault survivor whose DNA was retained by the San Francisco Police Department, and five years later used to bring burglary charges against her, sued the city Monday for privacy and constitutional violations.

The federal lawsuit contends the city instituted and maintained an unconstitutional DNA database of crime victims’ DNA without the individual’s consent or knowledge. The material taken from the victims “would be tested for a match against DNA taken from every subsequent crime scene in which genetic material was recovered, regardless of whether it had any relation to the crime suffered by the victim.”

The victim, named ...