The Portland Press Herald reported yesterday that state police approached about a dozen environmental activists in Maine for DNA samples, as part of an “ongoing investigation.”
Jim Freeman, a member of Earth First!, said a forensic specialist asked him for DNA samples because cops were investigating vandalism around Plum Creek. Environmentalists have opposed development around Moosehead Lake by the Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co.
What’s perhaps even more disturbing is the reporter says two people actually provided the samples.
So what’s the big deal? It was a voluntary request, and activists weren’t forced to do anything, right?
1. It implies that only someone with something to hide would refuse to give a sample. Activists shouldn’t be forced, or tempted, to sacrifice their most private information to prove their innocence — when they haven’t even been arrested or charged with a crime.
2. It creates a climate of fear that stifles First Amendment activity. As my friend Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, told the Press Herald:
“Environmentalists have a right to criticize the state’s policies without fear that it will lead to intimidation or visits to their home and collection of DNA.”