State house budget shows support for justice reforms
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The State Senate passed its one-house budget resolution earlier this week, which included items dedicated to supporting and providing funding for a number of criminal justice reforms. Photo via State Senate
By Rachel Vick
Monday's announcement of the Senate’s one-house budget resolution outlining spending priorities for the upcoming year includes support for the justice system and reform efforts to “ensure that New York State continues to be the progressive leader in the nation.”
Among the body’s pledges for criminal justice reform and funding for expanding representation and access to justice was support for a bill introduced by State Sen. Zellnor Myrie to automatically seal certain convictions.
“The Clean Slate NY coalition looks forward to the bill’s inclusion in the state budget, without weakening amendments, to bring real relief to New Yorkers who have been excluded from economic opportunity, stable housing, and higher education for far too long,” the advocates wrote in response to the budget announcement. “Now is the time to break cycles of intergenerational poverty and allow all New Yorkers to contribute to their communities.”
Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who sponsored the bill, celebrated support for the legislation that would automatically seal criminal records three years after the expiration of the maximum sentence for misdemeanors and seven years after the expiration of the maximum sentence for felonies.
“As we move toward finalizing the budget, we are confident that Clean Slate has wide support, from elected officials, to labor unions, the private sector and religious leaders,” Cruz told the Eagle in a statement. “We are confident that this year we will prevail in ensuring that 2.3 million New Yorkers and their families finally have a second chance at rebuilding their lives and exiting poverty.”
The bill, currently awaiting approval in the Codes Committee, was first introduced in January 2021 and has received support from lawmakers and advocates who say the existing laws requiring individuals to apply create barriers despite eligibility.
The Clean Slate bill wasn’t the only criminal justice legislation that lawmakers issued support for in their response to Governor Kathy Hochul’s executive budget.
More than six months after legal groups from around the city stood together to file a lawsuit against the state, city and the Department of Finance, calling for better compensation for attorneys representing indigent clients under section 18B, the Senate budget resolution includes $210 million to raise per hour indigent legal service support in the Assigned Counsel 18-B program.
The call for better financial support for 18B attorneys has also been echoed by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, and was supported by the city’s Law Department.
“Equal access to justice is the bedrock of our judicial system. Assigned counsel and attorney for children panels ensure that these vulnerable members of our society are protected,” said Queens-based attorney Sarah Tirgary, who serves as the president of the Assigned Counsel Association of New York State. “We praise this monumental step forward in order to ensure quality legal representation for our most vulnerable members of our society.”
The budget also includes $59 million to assist in the continued implementation of discovery reform and requests to restore $1.4 million in funding for civil or criminal legal services through the Legal Services Assistance Fund
The Senate and Assembly budget also allocates $250 million for the implementation of Raise the Age, a law that passed in 2017 which requires that 16- and 17-year-olds be tried as minors, instead of as adults, as they once were in New York State.
Mayor Eric Adams said he wanted Raise the Age legislation reformed as part of his Blueprint to End Gun Violence plan, which he introduced several weeks into his mayoral term. He claimed that adult gun traffickers were pinning the blame on young people who, under the legislation, wouldn’t be tried as harshly. Pursuing charges against the teens as if they were adults may act as a deterrent, the mayor said.
In February, Adams made a trip to Albany in an effort to get lawmakers on board with his reform rollback proposals, however few showed an appetite to change Raise the Age or recently passed bail reform laws.
Both Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie pushed back against Adams’ requests.
“The Senate Majority’s one-house budget is a statement of our values and solidifies the foundation for a stronger and more resilient New York,” Stewart Cousins said this week. “We are advancing policies to bolster public safety and protect our communities by investing in mental health resources, gun-violence prevention programs, and the social services our communities deserve.”
“The Senate Majority will continue to work diligently with our partners in government in the coming weeks to pass a balanced and timely budget that responds to the most pressing needs of New Yorkers and makes smart investments for our collective future,” she added.
