One of Great Britain’s top cops has called for taking DNA samples of children who might be "potential offenders" and entering them in a centralized database for the purposes of reducing or eliminating crime. (Is there any real logic in this at all?)

Gary Pugh from Scotland Yard wants teachers to help identify those children from ages 5 to 12, "the younger the better," he argues, who may have a "more challenging adult life," and "who may possibly be a threat to society." A risk factor analysis would be carried out on the children where their character is assessed to determine if they would likely become an “offender” over time. Right now those who are taken into custody for any reason, are entered into the DNA data base which now has some 4.5 million samples.

Not even Hitler or Lenin or Stalin brazenly proposed such a plan. It’s amazing that the law enforcement official was given such media coverage and apparent respect for his proposal. The plan is entirely totalitarian. One of the best protections against arbitrary tyranny is to enshrine in the law the principle that a citizen, even if charged with a crime, is innocent until proven guilty. The hallmark of a tyrannical state is the opposite presumption, that one is guilty unless proven innocent. Clearly, the UK is far down the slippery slope toward this type of tyrranical misapplication of law.

One might reasonably ask why this should be considered ominous by Americans. The answer is twofold. First, there has been an effort occuring quietly in our own justice system to bring elements of it into line with international precedents. Second, post 9/11, Americans have begun to get used to certain arrangements that, if they do not specifically and forthrightly function on a presumption of guilt basis, nevertheless are a step in that direction. Warrantless eavesdropping and no-fly lists are two such measures that tend toward the idea of a presumption of guilt.

To keep America free, we need to retain our free institutions and maintain our understanding of critical elements of the rule of law, such as the presumption of innocence.