PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO CORRECTION LAW § 703 INT.NO;S.7669

Monday, May 1, 2006

 

Bill Text – S07669

Back | New York State Bill Search |Assembly Home

See Bill Summary 

 

STATE OF NEW YORK

7669

IN SENATE

April 25, 2006

 

Introduced by Sen. NOZZOLIO –read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction

 

AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to certificates of relief from disabilities issued by the board of parole

 

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

 

  1. Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 3 and subdivision 5 of
  2.  section 703 of the correction law, as amended by chapter 342 of the laws
  3. of 1972, are amended and a new subdivision 7 is added to read as
  4. follows:
  5. (The) EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION SEVEN, THE board of
  6. parole shall not issue any certificate of relief from disabilities
  7. pursuant to subdivisions one or two, unless the board is satisfied that:
  8. 5. (In) EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION SEVEN, IN granting
  9. or revoking a certificate of relief from disabilities the action of the
  10. board of parole shall be by unanimous vote of the members authorized to
  11. grant or revoke parole. Such action shall be deemed a judicial function
  12. and shall not be reviewable if done according to law.
  13. 7. WHERE A CERTIFICATE OF RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES IS SOUGHT PURSUANT
  14. TO PARAGRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVISION ONE ON A JUDGMENT OF CONVICTION RENDERED
  15. BY A FEDERAL COURT IN THIS STATE, AND THE BOARD OF PAROLE IS IN RECEIPT
  16. OF A WRITTEN RECOMMENDATION IN FAVOR OF THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH CERTIFICATE
  17. FROM THE CHIEF PROBATION OFFICER OF THE FEDERAL DISTRICT WHERE SUCH
  18. CONVICTION WAS OBTAINED, THE BOARD SHALL, PROVIDED SUCH RECOMMENDATION
  19. IS BASED UPON A FINDING BY THE FEDERAL PROBATION OFFICE IN SUCH DISTRICT 
  20. 2 0 THAT, FOLLOWING ITS INVESTIGATION OF THE APPLICANT, THE REQUIREMENTS OF
    1. PARAGRAPHS (A), (B) AND (C) OF SUBDIVISION THREE HAVE BEEN SATISFIED,
    2. ISSUE THE REQUESTED CERTIFICATE.
  • S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

EXPLANATION—Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

MEMORANDUM

 

SUBJECT: PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO CORRECTION LAW § 703

INT.NO;S.7669

 

Under federal and state law, former felons are subject to myriad civil disabilities. These

include the loss of the right to serve on a jury, ineligibility for public office, inability to possess

handguns, and restrictions on employment Felons are barred from obtaining professional or

occupational licenses without a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities (CRD), preventing them from

holding positions ranging from garbage collector to private investigator or real estate broker. A CRD

is only obtainable by first offenders.

 

Currently, in order to seek relief from state-imposed disabilities, federal felons residing within New York must apply to the NY State Board of Parole. See In re C.P. Ward, Inc., 707 N.Y.S.2d 605 (N. Y.Co.Ct 2000) (finding that state courts may not grant relief from disabilities to federal felons but noting that federal felons may apply for relief at the state board of parole). Section 703 of the Correction Law provides that the board of parole “shall have the power to issue a certificate of relief from disabilities” to, inter alia, “any eligible offender who resides within [New York] and whose judgment of conviction was rendered by a court in any other jurisdiction.”

 

The current scheme sets up “a curious inequality of opportunity between state and federal criminal offenders” disadvantaging federal offenders where state rights are concerned. See MARGARET Colgate Love, Starting Over With a Clean Slate: In Praise of a Forgotten Section of the Model Penal Code, 30 FORDHAM Urb. L. J. 1705 (July 2003); See also UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Civil Disabilities of Convicted Felons: A State by State Survey, at ii (October 1996), available at, http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/forms/state_survey.pdf. (“The disabilities imposed upon felons under state law generally are assumed to apply with the same force [to federal felons]…[however] state laws dealing with restoration of rights do not always address how federal felons’ rights may be regained.”).

 

Federal felons – where virtually every sentence includes a period of supervised release by the federal probation office following any period of incarceration – must now apply to an unfamiliar state agency for relief from state-imposed civil disabilities. This is an arduous and time consuming process. Currently, the board of parole takes 12-15 months to process an application for relief. The federal probation office has estimated that it would be able to process such applications in 6-8 weeks, Further, it is beyond peradventure that the federal probation office will be more familiar with the federal offender and has easy access to his or her relevant records.

 

Therefore we propose to amend N.Y. Corrections Law § 703 (2003) as follows:

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows;

 

Section 1. Section 703 of the correction law is amended by adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:

7.Where a certificate of relief from disabilities is sought pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section on a judgment of conviction rendered by a federal court in this state, and the board of parole is in receipt of a written recommendation in favor of the issuance of such certificate from the chief probation officer of the federal district where such conviction was obtained, the board shall, provided such recommendation is based upon a finding by the federal probation office in such district that following its investigation of the applicant the requirements of paragraphs (a). (b). and (c) of subdivision three of this section have been satisfied, issue the requested certificate.

 

  • 2, This act shall take effect immediately.

 

Such amendment would allow federal probation offices attached to the four United States District courts within the State of New York to process CRD applications from federal offenders. This change would reduce the backlog of applications at the state board of parole, place the issuance of CRDs for federal felons in the hands of more familiar probation officers, promote greater efficiency in granting said Certificates from state-imposed disabilities, and save money for the overworked state parole board.