Queens BP’s office hosts expungement talk
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Queens Borough President Donovan Richards hosted an information on expungement and the sealing of criminal convictions this week. Photo courtesy of the Queens Borough President's office
By Jacob Kaye
The Queens borough president’s office hosted an information session on sealing and expunging criminal records earlier this week.
The meeting was led by attorneys with the Legal Aid Society, who outlined the ways in which people who were formerly incarcerated could seal or expunge their conviction records and open up new financial or educational opportunities.
“For too long criminal records have been a barrier to employment, housing and education for individuals in communities already suffering from inequality,” Borough President Donovan Richards said in his opening remarks. “Sealing and expungement will break barriers, provide new opportunities and put an end to punishing people for crimes long after they have served their sentence.”
“This process can and will be life changing for you,” he added.
Attorney Emma Goodman, who works with the Case Closed Project with the Legal Aid Society said that having a criminal record can be “a civil life sentence.”
“Having a criminal record holds people back forever,” Goodman said. “A term that we use a lot more recently is ‘perpetual punishment.’”
“It’s not supposed to be part of the punishment but it unfortunately is,” Goodman added.
There are currently around 70 million Americans with a criminal record, 2.3 million of which are New Yorkers. Goodman said that the issue has implications on racial and economic justice.
In 2020, a large majority of those arrested for felonies in New York City were Black or hispanic, according to NYPD data.
“When you look at who has a conviction record and who is affected by discrimination based on having a conviction record you can’t take away the racial and economic disparities,” Goodman said.
Goodman and Sunny Jo, who is also an attorney with the Case Closed Project at the Legal Aid Society, outlined the different options available to people looking to clear their record.
The main way to get a criminal record sealed is through criminal procedure law 160.59, which allows people with a conviction to file an application if they have two or fewer convictions, both of which are more than 10 years old and no more than one felony conviction, which can’t be a violent felony or sex crime. Additionally, the person applying for expungement can’t have any open cases against them.
The law, which went into effect in 2017, has led to the sealing of 2,500 convictions, according to Jo.
People looking to utilize the sealing process must provide a certificate of disposition, a sworn statement explaining the necessity of sealing and any other documentation that might help make their case.
Jo said that while 160.59 has been helpful to a large group of people, it hasn’t been a catch all for sealing cases.
“As great as it is, it is pretty limited in my opinion,” Jo said. “The clients that we’ve represented that have got their convictions sealed and who have fit the narrow eligibility mold, it’s been life changing but we’ve had to turn away hundreds and hundreds of people who just missed the mark, like they have three minor convictions.”
The attorneys also discussed CPL 160.58, which is available to those attempting to seal drug convictions and New York’s new marijuana legalization law, which allows for people to apply to have their marijuana records vacated.
In general, those who were convicted on charges of possessing up to 16 ounces or selling up to 3 ounces of marijuana apply and will be automatically expunged without a lawyer, unless someone is not a U.S. citizen.
The attorneys said that while the options to clear a conviction in New York State are “good laws, there are still a lot of people who aren’t eligible right now.”
For those people who don’t meet the requirements, the attorneys said they are two of many working to pass the Clean Slate bill, which would automatically seal misdemeanor convictions three years after the sentence and seal felony convictions seven years after the sentence.
The Clean Slate bill is sponsored by Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz.
“People need access to all of life’s necessities as soon as they get done with their sentence, as soon as they come home,” Jo said.
