Leslie v. New York

Juvenile Law Center, in partnership with The Gault Center and Fenwick & West LLP, filed an amicus brief in support of Shakira Leslie, whose DNA New York police collected and stored without her knowledge or consent. These actions against Leslie are part of a broader policy, used by the New York Police Department (NYPD), wherein police offer refreshments, such as beverages, to people brought in for questioning, then collect DNA samples when the items are discarded and store them in a suspect index, sometimes indefinitely.

Our brief argues that this practice is uniquely harmful to youth by exposing them to unnecessary and prolonged surveillance by law enforcement and undermining the protections of the juvenile legal system. The harm of these policies disparately impacts Black and Latine youth due to their overrepresentation at every stage of the criminalization process. Amici argue the NYPD’s DNA collection practice disregards both U.S. Supreme Court precedent and New York law that aim to protect children’s confidentiality and development.