NY SENATE BILL WOULD ERASE MORE THAN 2.3 MILLION CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

The Legislature’s next gift to New York criminals

Post Editorial Board

 

New York Post

March 25, 2022

 

 

Sen. Zellnor Myrie represents Brooklyn in Albany. Myrie wants to erase more than 2.3 million criminal convictions as though they never happened 

 

 

Bad enough that the Legislature is resisting modest fixes to its recent, disastrous criminal-justice reforms. Worse that it’s looking to bungle onward.

We’re looking at the “clean slate” bill from state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-B’klyn), one of the few policy items included in the Senate’s budget plan. It would seal conviction records after three years for misdemeanors and seven years for felonies — eventually expunging them completely.

That is, it would erase more than 2.3 million criminal convictions as though they never happened.

New York already has a liberal sealing law that involves judicial review and excludes sex crimes, murder, manslaughter, arson, kidnapping, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes of significant danger to the public. It reasonably allows those who’ve kept their record clean for 10 years and only have one felony and one misdemeanor or two misdemeanors to seal those offenses. 

 

The bill would erase more than 2.3 million criminal convictions

 

But progressive lawmakers want more, because they deem the entire criminal-justice system racist, judges included (which is why they refuse to give jurists any discretion to jail nearly all perps, no matter how dangerous their record); they think even violent criminals deserve unfettered second chances, public safety be damned.

Clean Slate would remove nearly all traces of a person’s criminal history, including heinous crimes, in the name of removing barriers to employment. Even employers in the fields of child care, elder care and finance would have no knowledge whatsoever of a prospective hire’s prior convictions. How could any lawmaker in good conscience support such a law?

It also gives ex-cons the right to sue prosecutors, other government officials and even third parties over claims that their sealed criminal records were disclosed or obtained in violation of the new law.

Look: There’s room to do more on sealing records, but with crime soaring across New York the priority should be on improving public safety, not adding new risks.