Prohibits the division of criminal justice services from disclosing pending adjournment in contemplation of dismissals on civil records of arrests and…

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◆ The sponsor's argument

Why José M. Serrano says this is needed

As part of the FY2020 budget, the New York State Human Rights Law was amended to prohibit employers and licensing agencies from inquiring about or discriminating on the basis of criminal cases adjourned in contemplation of dismissal (ACD'd). See N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(16). The enacted amendment aimed to ensure that New Yorkers would not be fired or denied employment or licensure because of a criminal case that had been scheduled for dismissal. A technical amendment is needed to make a related statute consistent with the Human Rights Law and to ensure that the amendment to the Human Rights Law functions as intended. Currently, the Division of Criminal Justice Services ("DCJS") reports ACD'd cases to employers and licensing agencies, even though employers and licensing agencies are prohibited from inquiring about ACD'd cases or discriminat- ing on the basis of ACD'd cases. These reports from DCJS put New Yorkers at increased risk of unlawful discrimination - and increase the risk of liability for employers, who may not be aware that ACD-related discrimi- nation is illegal. Multiple clients of The Legal Aid Society have been denied employment due to DCJS's disclosure of ACD'd cases since the time of the Human Rights Law amendment. These New Yorkers were only able to begin working after The Legal Aid Society intervened and asserted the clients' rights under the Human Rights Law. However, New Yorkers who are not represented by counsel will continue to lose job opportunities until a technical amendment is made to Executive Law § 845-d(1). In a postCovid world of high unemployment, New York State must do everything in its power to ensure that New Yorkers have the opportunity to work and support their families. The language in the proposed technical amendment mirrors the language in the FY2020 budget amendment to the Human Rights Law. In addition, the proposed technical amendment replaces the phrase "criminal conviction" with its definition, "conviction of a crime," to ensure that violation- level convictions are not reported for civil purposes. The technical amendment does not apply to DCJS's reporting for criminal justice purposes.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.