A long-debated bill to automatically seal the criminal records of millions of New Yorkers a certain period after their conviction has passed both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time.
Lawmakers voted to pass the measure, which supporters call the Clean Slate Act, at the finish line in the last minute of an extended legislative session originally scheduled to end Thursday.
The bill would automatically seal criminal records three years after a misdemeanor conviction and eight years after a person is released from prison on a felony conviction. It does not apply to Class A felonies or misdemeanors that require a person to register as a sex offender.
“People can change,” said sponsor Rep. Catalina Cruz, D-Queens. “People can get better. People can repent. People can be forgiven. Our society should not be judged by a member’s behavior at their worst, but by our ability to forgive them and to grant them the ability to move forward and heal themselves. and become productive members of our society.”
A person’s criminal record will be sealed after the required time if they are not on probation or parole, and have no other pending charges.
Police, courts and prosecutors would have access to the records as part of an investigation or to review a gun application, as would state agencies required to conduct a fingerprint-based background check for certain jobs .
About 1 in 7 New Yorkers has a criminal record, lawmakers say. It is estimated to affect more than 2 million people in the state.
Cruz has worked on and changed the legislation for several years, saying he consulted with as many stakeholders as possible, including police, state and local officials, to get the bill across the finish line.
Members of the Assembly restrictions were voted on Friday afternoon adopt measure 83-64. Senators approved it in kind 38-25 shortly before 11 p.m., hoping to conclude the upper house session for the year Saturday morning.
“Seventy-three percent of people convicted of a crime have not been convicted of a subsequent crime within 10 years,” Sen. Jamaal Bailey said Friday night from the floor. “…But the sentence an individual receives is part of the dues they pay to society. The three or eight years they have to wait is part of the dues they pay to society. How much more do you want people to pay when you can’t pay? It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get up. But if you’re down for years and years, you can’t get up.”
It was an emotional vote for Rep. Eddie Gibbs, the first member of the state Legislature to be incarcerated.
Gibbs, who spent 17 months at Rikers Island and four years in state prison after a manslaughter conviction, told the Assembly that his story has been used by advocates pushing the bill.
“There’s a conversation in every chamber about me, so I felt like a prop,” he said. “But I’m proud to be a fixture. If it’s going to help those 2.3 million New Yorkers get back home and get back into society and do something good in their communities, use me.”
The Senate has passed previous versions of Clean Slate in previous sessions, but it has typically stalled in the Assembly.
Passage of Clean Slate would make New York the 11th US state to pass legislation to automatically seal criminal records.
The bill’s fate will depend on Gov. Kathy Hochul, who must sign it into law later this year. Hochul included a version of Clean Slate in his 2022 executive budget, but has struggled to reach an agreement with legislative leaders on timing to seal the records.
The bill was amended earlier this week. Hochul said Tuesday that the Legislature’s passage of Clean Slate was a top priority at the end of the session, but he has to work through the details.
“We’re making good progress,” he said. “…I think it’s important for employers who are experiencing a severe labor shortage, but we also need to be smart and know our options.”
The governor cited potential concerns about sealing the convictions of New Yorkers from other states and victims of sexual assault, but declined to say whether he would support the updated legislation or sign it as written.
Republican lawmakers have long rejected Clean Slate, warning that it will affect public safety.
Many argued during the floor debate that they support the idea of sealing records for certain crimes, but the legislation passed goes too far.
Rep. John McGowan, a former special victims prosecutor in Bronx and Rockland counties, says there should be exceptions for other serious crimes such as involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child or theft from armed hand
“People have a right to a second chance, certainly, but what this legislation does is it creates a blanket opportunity for certain crimes that shouldn’t qualify for automatic sealing,” said McGowan, a Pearl River Republican. “Victims of crime carry the scars and wounds of what happened to them for the rest of their lives. They don’t get a chance to get a blank slate. . . . It should require something from the defendant to take some action to go. to court to go before a judge to apply for that sealing. It should not be done automatically, it should not be done at the expense or expense of the ‘status’.
Republicans, who voted against the bill with several upstate Democrats, argue that New Yorkers with criminal records can already request that past felonies be sealed in court, and the Clean Slate Act removes the judicial discretion.
About 0.05 percent of people with a past conviction in the state have taken the opportunity to apply to have the record sealed, said Senate sponsor Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn Democrat.
But the impetus behind the legislation has been created to remove barriers for people with previous convictions to secure housing, job opportunities and start a new life.
“Now, they are free,” said Sen. Robert Jackson, a Manhattan Democrat. “And so they’re free to try to do what’s best for themselves and their families and be a good citizen of our country. And that’s a good thing.”
