As part of his State of the State Address last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for a vast expansion of the state’s DNA database to include samples from persons convicted of all crimes, including misdemeanors.

“We are missing an important opportunity to prevent needless suffering of crime victims,” Cuomo said in his message to the Legislature. “We are also failing to use the most powerful tool we have to exonerate the innocent.”

Civil liberties advocates warned the state is rushing to expand the database without proper testing standards and safeguards to prevent wrongful prosecutions.

Source: New York Daily News