June 6, 2013 10:57AM 

# A Brief Civil Liberties Quiz 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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See if you can spot the civil-liberties victory:

1. The Supreme Court [says](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/us/supreme-court-says-police-can-take-dna-samples.html) the government can put your DNA in a national database, even if you were wrongly arrested.
2. The State of Mississippi imposes [mandatory collection](http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/06/03/188423215/miss-turns-to-cord-blood-to-track-down-statutory-rapists) of the DNA of babies born to teenage moms, neither of which is suspected of a crime.
3. The Department of Justice is [tracking](https://www.cato.org/blog/we-need-independent-review-government-spying-reporters) and [threatening to prosecute](https://www.cato.org/blog/i-hate-say-i-told-you-so-spying-press-edition) reporters, for the crime of reporting.
4. The National Security Agency is [collecting](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order) *everyone’s* phone records, even if they suspect you of nothing.
5. The U.S. Senate [kills](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/294571-senate-rejects-tougher-background-checks-on-gun-purchases) a bill that could lead to [a registry of law-abiding gun owners](http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/04/04/half_of_americans_fear_that_background_checks_would_lead_to_a_gun_registry.html).

Answer: #5.

Those [crazy senators](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/federal-gun-registry_n_3101204.html) are looking less crazy all the time.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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