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NY lawmakers’ ‘clean-slate’ proposal is a gift to career criminals
he legislation would automatically seal criminal records for a sweeping list of crimes — after one year for misdemeanors and three years for felonies. After five years, most misdemeanors would be automatically expunged, and after seven, many felonies.
How this would play out isn’t clear. Typically, “expungement” means records are completely destroyed and not available to law enforcement, prosecutors or courts. Is that what lawmakers really want? This also illogically means that some criminal records could be sealed before someone completes his prison sentence.
Lawmakers in Albany should remember lessons learned from bail “reform.” Soon after the state’s new bail laws went into effect, legislators realized that those accused of some crimes pose a risk to public safety or might not return to court and should be considered for bail. The law was amended to allow bail for crimes such as home burglaries, crimes that cause death and other serious crimes.
All offenses shouldn’t be treated the same. Some crimes pose a greater risk to public safety. Clean-slate bill sponsors agree and don’t want to allow sex offenders to benefit from automatically erased criminal records. But the bill sponsors haven’t considered the risk when it comes to murder, robbery, kidnapping, arson, assault, hate crimes, domestic violence crimes, drunk-or-drugged driving or gun offenses that would automatically be sealed and then destroyed.
Plus, prosecutors have pointed out that the proposed clean-slate bill requires expungement of “biometric information” yet doesn’t define the term. This could mean destruction of DNA-database records that help solve serial sexual assaults and cold cases, and so help overturn convictions and provide evidence for exonerations. Surely, our lawmakers don’t intend that.
nypost.com
he legislation would automatically seal criminal records for a sweeping list of crimes — after one year for misdemeanors and three years for felonies. After five years, most misdemeanors would be automatically expunged, and after seven, many felonies.
How this would play out isn’t clear. Typically, “expungement” means records are completely destroyed and not available to law enforcement, prosecutors or courts. Is that what lawmakers really want? This also illogically means that some criminal records could be sealed before someone completes his prison sentence.
Lawmakers in Albany should remember lessons learned from bail “reform.” Soon after the state’s new bail laws went into effect, legislators realized that those accused of some crimes pose a risk to public safety or might not return to court and should be considered for bail. The law was amended to allow bail for crimes such as home burglaries, crimes that cause death and other serious crimes.
All offenses shouldn’t be treated the same. Some crimes pose a greater risk to public safety. Clean-slate bill sponsors agree and don’t want to allow sex offenders to benefit from automatically erased criminal records. But the bill sponsors haven’t considered the risk when it comes to murder, robbery, kidnapping, arson, assault, hate crimes, domestic violence crimes, drunk-or-drugged driving or gun offenses that would automatically be sealed and then destroyed.
Plus, prosecutors have pointed out that the proposed clean-slate bill requires expungement of “biometric information” yet doesn’t define the term. This could mean destruction of DNA-database records that help solve serial sexual assaults and cold cases, and so help overturn convictions and provide evidence for exonerations. Surely, our lawmakers don’t intend that.
NY lawmakers’ ‘clean-slate’ proposal is a gift to career criminals
New legislation in Albany could be the latest misstep in criminal-justice reforms.
nypost.com
