Cuomo's stand on liberties emerges
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo gives his State of the Budget speech in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany, NY. (Jan. 17, 2012) Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Case by case, debate by debate, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has been defining himself on varying issues with implications for individual liberties.
In last week's budget address, Cuomo called anew for expanding the state's DNA database to include for the first time individuals convicted of all penal-law misdemeanors. He said: "The state's existing DNA databank has already provided leads in over 2,700 convictions and led to 27 exonerations of the wrongfully accused."
Even with the technology's oft-touted potential for beating false charges, a proposed expansion draws concern from the New York Civil Liberties Union -- whose legislative director, Robert Perry, warned last year: "The possibility for error, fraud and abuse exists at every step from the moment a DNA sample is collected."
DNA expansion also was proposed by Cuomo's predecessor, Gov. David A. Paterson -- who generally won plaudits from civil-liberties advocates, having signed legislation limiting use by the NYPD of stop-and-frisk data and changing draconian drug laws.
Earlier this month, those same advocates appeared pleasantly surprised when Cuomo called for an end to fingerprinting food-stamp applicants. Cuomo said in his State of the State speech that the practice "makes the stigma actually worse and creates a barrier for families coming forward," prompting disagreement from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Cuomo, the former state attorney general, also led the charge last year for same-sex marriage, presented by its supporters as an essential matter of liberty. On a very different issue, he moved to pull the state out of a controversial federal program, backed by President Barack Obama, purportedly aimed at catching and deporting illegal immigrants with criminal histories.
When the Occupy movement arrived in Albany last fall, the governor's office did not welcome encampment. Matters of curfews, prosecutions, and free assembly drew debate.
During the 2010 campaign he denounced efforts to block an Islamic center in lower Manhattan.
Looking ahead, legal representation for indigents looms as another potential issue.
The state has been sued for allegedly failing to provide a public defense system adequate to protect the constitutional right to counsel. The outcome of that case, Hurrell-Harring v. N.Y., could eventually carry a major public price tag, amid a fiscal crisis.
