NY State Senate Bill 2015-S5640

Senate Bill S5640

Signed By Governor

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Allows the unsealing of criminal records in any district court, city court or criminal court in the city of New York in certain instances

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A7319 - Signed by Governor

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Nov 20, 2015	signed chap.449
Nov 10, 2015	delivered to governor
Jun 15, 2015	returned to assembly passed senate substituted for s5640
Jun 15, 2015	substituted by a7319
Jun 01, 2015	advanced to third reading
May 28, 2015	2nd report cal.
May 27, 2015	1st report cal.953
May 21, 2015	referred to codes

Votes

- Jun 15, 2015 - Floor Vote
  A7319
  
  59
  
  Aye
  
  3
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  1
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Jun 15, 2015
      
      aye (59)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Amedore
      
      Avella
      
      Bonacic
      
      Boyle
      
      Breslin
      
      Carlucci
      
      Croci
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Diaz
      
      Dilan
      
      Espaillat
      
      Farley
      
      Felder
      
      Flanagan
      
      Funke
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Golden
      
      Griffo
      
      Hamilton
      
      Hannon
      
      Hassell-Thompson
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kennedy
      
      Klein
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Larkin
      
      Latimer
      
      Little
      
      Marcellino
      
      Marchione
      
      Martins
      
      Murphy
      
      Nozzolio
      
      O'Mara
      
      Ortt
      
      Panepinto
      
      Parker
      
      Peralta
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Sampson
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Serino
      
      Serrano
      
      Seward
      
      Skelos
      
      Squadron
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Valesky
      
      Venditto
      
      Young
      
      nay (3)
      
      Comrie
      
      Montgomery
      
      Perkins
      
      excused (1)
      
      Libous
  May 27, 2015 - Codes Committee Vote
  S5640
  
  10
  
  Aye
  
  1
  
  Nay
  
  4
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Codes Committee Vote: May 27, 2015
      
      aye (10)
      
      Boyle
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Espaillat
      
      Gallivan
      
      Golden
      
      Hamilton
      
      Lanza
      
      Nozzolio
      
      O'Mara
      
      Savino
      
      nay (1)
      
      Perkins
      
      aye wr (4)
      
      Griffo
      
      Krueger
      
      Panepinto
      
      Squadron

2015-S5640 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7319
Law Section:: Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§160.50 & 160.55, CP L

2015-S5640 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows the unsealing of criminal records in any district court, city court or criminal court in the city of New York in certain instances.

2015-S5640 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S5640

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in
relation to unsealing criminal records

This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of her Advisory
Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure.

This measure would amend section 160.50(1)(d)(ii) of the Criminal
Procedure Law to authorize designated local courts to unseal records
that the court has sealed in certain cases.

The Court of Appeals has recognized, somewhat obliquely, the inherent
authority of a court to seal or unseal its own records where the
interest of justice dictates, but it has rarely had occasion to define
the full scope of this authority (see Hynes v. Karassik, 47 NY2d 659
(1979)). As a result, unsealing a court record usually occurs
following an application to a court under one of the specifically
enumerated circumstances set forth in section 160.50(1)(d) or
160.55(1)(d) of the Criminal Procedure Law. Those statutes have been
strictly construed (see Katherine B. v. Cataldo, 5 NY3d 196 (2005)).

One of the enumerated circumstances permitting unsealing is the ex
parte application by a law enforcement agency to a superior court,
which then may unseal the record if the law enforcement agency

demonstrates that justice requires the record to be made available
(CPL 160.50(1)(d)(ii), 160 55(1)(d)(ii)). By their very language, this
provision does not authorize a local criminal court to entertain the
application for unsealing, even where the application is made to
unseal a record that the local criminal court itself sealed.

We believe that the current statute is needlessly restrictive. The
local criminal court, with knowledge of its own proceedings, is in a
much better position to entertain an application for unsealing it.
While it may be appropriate to require that all applications to unseal
records other than those of the sealing court be made in superior
court, many lower courts are fully capable of fairly determining
whether adequate grounds exist for unsealing the records it sealed.

This measure amends CPL 160.50(1)(d)(ii) and 160.55(1)(d)(ii) to
allow.an ex parte unsealing application of a law enforcement agency to
be made to any District Court, City Court or the Criminal Court of the
City of New York provided that such court sealed the record. The
measure leaves unchanged the requirement that ex parte applications
for records sealed by all other courts must be made to a superior
court.

This measure, which would have no fiscal impact, would take effect
immediately.

Legislative History: None, New proposal.

2015-S5640 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5640

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              May 21, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced by Sen. NOZZOLIO -- (at request of the Office of Court Admin-
  istration)  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
  committed to the Committee on Codes

AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law,  in  relation  to  unsealing
  criminal records

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of  section  160.50  of  the
criminal  procedure law, as amended by section 73 of subpart B of part C
of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
  (d) such records shall be made available to the person accused  or  to
such  person's  designated  agent,  and shall be made available to (i) a
prosecutor in any proceeding in which the accused has moved for an order
pursuant to section 170.56 or 210.46 of this  chapter,  or  (ii)  a  law
enforcement agency upon ex parte motion in any superior court, OR IN ANY
DISTRICT COURT, CITY COURT OR THE CRIMINAL COURT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
PROVIDED  THAT SUCH COURT SEALED THE RECORD, if such agency demonstrates
to the satisfaction of the court that justice requires that such records
be made available to it, or (iii) any state or local officer  or  agency
with  responsibility  for the issuance of licenses to possess guns, when
the accused has made application for such a license,  or  (iv)  the  New
York  state department of corrections and community supervision when the
accused is on parole supervision as a result of conditional release or a
parole release granted by the New York state board of  parole,  and  the
arrest  which  is the subject of the inquiry is one which occurred while
the accused was under such supervision, or (v) any prospective  employer
of  a  police  officer  or  peace  officer as those terms are defined in
subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of this  chap-
ter, in relation to an application for employment as a police officer or
peace  officer; provided, however, that every person who is an applicant
for the position of police officer or peace officer shall  be  furnished

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD09287-02-5

S. 5640                             2

with a copy of all records obtained under this paragraph and afforded an
opportunity  to  make  an  explanation  thereto,  or  (vi) the probation
department responsible for supervision of the accused  when  the  arrest
which  is  the  subject  of  the inquiry is one which occurred while the
accused was under such supervision; and
  S 2. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 160.55 of the  criminal
procedure  law, as amended by section 74 of subpart B of part C of chap-
ter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
  (d) the records referred to in paragraph (c) of this subdivision shall
be made available to the person accused or to such  person's  designated
agent, and shall be made available to (i) a prosecutor in any proceeding
in  which  the accused has moved for an order pursuant to section 170.56
or 210.46 of this chapter, or (ii) a  law  enforcement  agency  upon  ex
parte motion in any superior court, OR IN ANY DISTRICT COURT, CITY COURT
OR  THE  CRIMINAL COURT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK PROVIDED THAT SUCH COURT
SEALED THE RECORD, if such agency demonstrates to  the  satisfaction  of
the  court  that justice requires that such records be made available to
it, or (iii) any state or local officer or  agency  with  responsibility
for  the issuance of licenses to possess guns, when the accused has made
application for such a license, or (iv) the New York state department of
corrections and community supervision when the accused is  under  parole
supervision as a result of conditional release or parole release granted
by  the  New  York  state  board  of  parole and the arrest which is the
subject of the inquiry is one which occurred while the accused was under
such supervision, or (v) the probation department responsible for super-
vision of the accused when the  arrest  which  is  the  subject  of  the
inquiry  is  one  which occurred while the accused was under such super-
vision, or (vi) a police agency, probation department, sheriff's office,
district attorney's office, department of correction of any municipality
and parole department, for law  enforcement  purposes,  upon  arrest  in
instances  in which the individual stands convicted of harassment in the
second degree, as defined in section 240.26 of the penal law,  committed
against  a  member  of the same family or household as the defendant, as
defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of this chapter, and deter-
mined pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section 170.10 of  this  title;
and
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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