NCJ Number
126438
Journal
The Futurist Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: (July-August, 1990) Pages: 20-25
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Constitutional rights are being challenged by new technology and legal decisions.
Abstract
High-tech products and techniques, such as computer networks, electronic monitoring, and genetic identification offer a boon to criminal justice agencies. But these innovations threaten such cherished rights as privacy, protection against self-incrimination, and equal protection under the law. The right to privacy is threatened by supersensitive listening and video devices, and computer networking. Electronic scanning, where conversations can be overheard, threaten the probable cause principle in obtaining a warrant. The right against self-incrimination can be made obsolete by genetic identification and electronic and video scanning where an individual can incriminate himself while in the "privacy" of his home. Testing the limits of punishment and posing dilemmas for courts are electronic monitoring, cryonics, subliminal conditioning, and genetic engineering. These forms of technology raise questions regarding cruel and unusual punishment. Failure to address these issues will result in rights lost that, once gone, are difficult to regain.