The New York State attorney general proposed legislation on Wednesday that would allow people who have confessed or pleaded guilty to a crime they did not commit to sue the state for damages.

Under current law, only someone who has contested the accusation is permitted to sue for wrongful conviction. But the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said in a speech that a change was needed to eliminate what he described as “unnecessary and overly broad” barriers to seeking restitution.

Of the 27 people in New York who have had their convictions overturned by DNA evidence since 1991, 10 had falsely confessed or pleaded guilty, Mr. Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in his remarks at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“It doubly victimizes people who acted out of fear, had a serious mental or psychological problem, or were simply too young to know what they were doing and as a result admitted doing something that they did not do,” he said.