D.C. Circuit: DNA Collection Does Not Violate Prisoners’ Religious Freedom

In an unusual challenge to the Bureau of Prisons' practice of extracting DNA samples from convicted felons, a federal appeals court has ruled that the process does not infringe federal prisoners' religious freedom. Russell Kaemmerling, who was convicted of conspiring to commit wire fraud and is being held in a Texas prison, sued to block the BOP from collecting his DNA on the grounds that it amounted to a defilement of "God's temple" and was "tantamount to laying the foundation for the rise of the anti-Christ."