BILL NUMBER:A3370

TITLE  OF BILL:  An act to amend the family court act and the penal law,
in relation to prohibiting  public  officials  from  unsealing  juvenile
police records

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To  prevent  the unsealing and release of information contained in juve-
nile offender records by public officials and/or employees by making the
offense punishable under the penal law.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

This bill amends section 1 of the Family  Court  Act  by  adding  a  new
section 381.4 to provide that, unless authorized by a court of competent
jurisdiction,  the  release  by  a public official and/or an employee of
juvenile offender records, and other court records that have  been,  and
are  sealed,  shall be specifically prohibited by law. Section 195.00 of
the Penal Law is also amended to provide that, unless  authorized  by  a
court  of competent jurisdiction, the release by an appointed or elected
public official and/or a public employee of  juvenile  offender  records
and  other court records that have been, and are sealed pursuant to law,
shall be an act of official misconduct

JUSTIFICATION:
              

Under current law, juvenile offender records, inclusive of  the  records
and  entire  documents,  are  sealed  after  adjudication to protect the
privacy of the entire proceeding. State laws specifically  and  directly
restrict the access to and disclosure of the information and the record.
But,  while  the  law  clearly makes the release of the record unlawful,
there is no specific penalty attached for  violation  of  the  law.  The
people  most  likely to have access to these records, and therefore most
likely to be the conduit for release and disclosure are  public  employ-
ees, and appointed and elected officials. Because no specific penalty or
consequence  is  prescribed  by  current law, the only real deterrent is
moral or ethical obligation. Recent behavior by high  ranking  officials
in  N.Y.C.  has  demonstrated that in the absence of moral/ethical obli-
gations, the law without teeth does not always  work.    This  bill,  if
enacted, would put teeth in the law by providing for penalties appropri-
ate  for  such misconduct by public officials and employees who dishonor
their oath of office.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2007-2008 A.5060 2005-2006 A.5017
2003-2004 A.6714
2001-2002 A.7080

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

No fiscal implications to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This  act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.