‘Clean Slate’ to seal criminal records moves forward in Albany

Metro

By Zach Williams

May 31, 2023 | 6:51pm

ALBANY – We’re all about second chances but a pass for murder?

State lawmakers are inching forward towards approving the controversial ‘Clean Slate’ legislation to seal criminal records for the vast majority of crimes – both misdemeanors and felonies – once people serve their time.

Big Business and organized labor have joined Albany Democrats in a last push to get the bill over the finish line before the Legislature adjourns for the year on June 8.

“These are people who paid their debt to society,” Paul Zuber, executive vice president of the Business Council of New York State, said at a Wednesday rally in the Capitol.

“These are people that we asked to be good citizens – ‘follow your parole, be good when you’re in jail. Do all the right things when you’re out of it.’ Why are we excluding them from the labor market?”

Supporters say ‘Clean Slate’ would boost the labor pool while giving people a second chance years after they have served their time, but critics charge the proposal with helping convicted criminals at the expense of their victims and public safety at large.

“We’re just down to the technical changes that we’re having conversations about. So we don’t have the final version yet but it is something conceptually I do support,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters in New York City on Wednesday.

“And I think we’ll get this done before the end of the session,” added Hochul, echoing comments made in Albany on Wednesday by state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx).

The bill would allow people who have finished their sentences, parole, or probation to get records sealed three years after they are sentenced for misdemeanors and seven years for felonies as long as they have not been convicted of other offenses in the meantime.

People convicted of sex crimes are explicitly ineligible, according to the legislative language, which has no effect on media reports concerning past crimes.

The proposal would allow certain employers like law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecutors, schools, and even Uber to access sealed records. The DMV and government officials could also view rap sheets when people respectively apply for driving-related jobs and gun licenses.

But some Republicans are appalled that offenses as serious as murder would be covered by the legislation, which follows criticism of other progressive reforms amid rising crime.

“There’s no end to Democrats’ pro-criminal policymaking. Second chances are important, but people have the right to make informed decisions,” Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R-Fulton) said. “Clean Slate will be another victory for career criminals, and another loss for public safety in New York.”

State Sen. Mario Mattera (R-Smithtown) told The Post that Albany Democrats ought to weigh their support for ‘Clean Slate’ against the anguish felt by crime victims and their families.

“You know what? Maybe they need to really look and speak to these families – and let these families tell [them] how they feel and right now what they’re still going through,” he said.

Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (D-Staten Island) pointed out that most employers can hire all the convicted criminals they want without any new legislation getting passed.

“You don’t need to have a sealed criminal conviction in order to receive an opportunity to be able to change your life around and to work. The suggestion that this is needed in order to have that second opportunity is misguided,” he said.

Business leaders and labor unions say ‘Clean Slate’ would give New York a competitive edge against other states considering record-low unemployment, especially considering that other states like California have passed similar legislation in recent years.

“Clean Slate will be another victory for career criminals, and another loss for public safety in New York.”

Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay

Research suggests sealing records would help roughly 18,000 people reintegrate into society while helping the state gain as much as $7.1 billion each year in potential earnings that could spread throughout the economy, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

But Hochul has previously pushed for people to wait longer to get their records sealed, a stance that doomed the proposal last year.

This time around appears very different, according to state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz (D-Queens), who are sponsoring the bill in their respective chambers.

Powerful political players like the Partnership for New York City, which reps big biz in the city, and 1199SEIU are part of the coalition pushing the bill – a fact that Myrie gives supporters “cover” to deflect the idea the bill is just about helping convicted criminals rather than the state as a whole.

“This is the closest we’ve ever been on Clean Slate,” Myrie said. “The unprecedented level of support has never crescendoed as it has right now. So … I am cynically cautiously optimistic that we will get this done.”