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State's DNA database should not be expanded to include minor crimes It's bad enough local police, state
troopers and various and sundry "Homeland Security" law enforcement
agencies are over-armed and out of control. As if the police and prison industrial complex isn't bloated enough. This means DNA samples will be taken from every John and Jane Doe citizen convicted of such petty offenses as trespassing, shoplifting, vandalism and traffic wrongdoings. Now that's just what America and New York really need more of -- expansion of a criminal underclass already permanently stigmatized by the "Scarlet Letter," "throw away the key" philosophy emblematic of popular culture. Even the respected Yeshiva University Innocence Project, which pioneered use of DNA samples in forensic investigations, is opposed to this cumbersome, wasteful and potentially abusive scheme. What's needed, instead, are politicians and news organizations with enough guts to support legislation restoring voting rights of felons who serve their incarceration time, repay their debt, and want to be productive citizens. Both these conditions may constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," or human rights' violations, under the U.S. Constitution. Readers should write their legislators and demand immediate termination of this intrusive, publicity pandering "turkey bill." PERRY CHET KING Albany ---------------------------------------------------
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