FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

Statement of ACLU Client Rodney Ware

SAN FRANCISCO -- I'm an Air Force veteran with 12 years of service and a graduate of the federal law enforcement facility in Glynco, Georgia. I worked as a border patrol agent for the Immigration and Naturalization Service where I was stationed in Brownsville, Texas. After I left the INS I then volunteered with Americorp and the Peace Corp.

I became a victim of identity theft in 1990 when my car was stolen along with my wallet, containing credit cards and various forms of ID. In about 1992, I discovered someone had been using my identity. I was pulled over for a traffic stop and the officer informed me that I had a lot of tickets on my record. When I went down to the courthouse I discovered that someone had used my name in racking up a lot of tickets. Fortunately, I was able to clear the tickets by showing that my thumbprint did not match a print on one of the tickets.

Over the years since then, I have had endless trouble due to someone using my name under false pretenses. Among other things, phone service was set up in my name in Tennessee, Colorado and South Carolina; credit cards were opened in my name in Georgia and Colorado; and a bank account was opened in Colorado. Warrants were issued under my name for check fraud in Kansas, dangerous drugs in Colorado, and a hit-and-run in Nevada.

I have been ordered to appear in the courts of many different states and have had to defend myself against these charges. In 1998, I was arrested in Texas for check fraud that I hadn't committed. In April of this year, I was arrested in Los Angeles, on a felony warrant for dangerous drugs. I was fingerprinted and photographed, and almost had to spend a night in jail before I managed to convince the officer on duty to look up articles about me on the Internet to verify my position.

Now that Proposition 69 has passed, the next time I am arrested in California for someone else's crime, the police will be required to take my DNA as part of the booking process. I know first-hand how easy it is to get arrested by mistake, and how difficult it is to clear your name once you are arrested. To add to this burden, once the police take my DNA in the booking process, it will be incredibly difficult to get it removed from the system. Proposition 69 says that the judge has to wait 180 days and that he can deny my request and that the judge has to deny my request if the prosecutor objects. If my request is denied, I can't even appeal.

I've joined this lawsuit because I think it is wrong that the government will be able to seize my DNA. I am a victim - along with thousands of others - who have had the great misfortune of having their driver's license, credit cards and other identification stolen. I do not belong in a criminal database, and neither do the many, many other innocent people who are arrested every year.

An ACLU news release about the lawsuit is online at: /privacy/gen/15767prs20041207.html.