BILL NUMBER:  S1961

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the public officers law and the civil rights law, in
relation to prohibiting persons from holding public office or
positions of political party leadership when convicted of certain
felonies

 PURPOSE :

Prohibits certain people from holding public office or positions of
political party leaderships.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 The public officers law is amended by adding a new section
3-d to read as follows:

§ 3-d. Restriction upon holding public office; felony conviction. 1.
No person shall be capable of holding a civil office or a position of
leadership in a political party for a period of ten years if he or she
has been convicted of any felony under article one hundred forty-five,
one hundred fifty five, one hundred seventy, one hundred seventy-five,
one hundred ninety five, two hundred, two hundred ten, or two hundred
fifteen of the penal law.
              

2. No person shall be capable of joining a political party for period
of five years following the completion of any sentence for a felony
conviction under article one hundred forty-five, one hundred fifty
five, one hundred seventy, one hundred seventy-five, one hundred
ninety five, two hundred, two hundred ten, or two hundred fifteen of
the penal law, regardless of whether he or she obtained a certificate
of relief of disabilities from the division of criminal justice
services.

§ 2. Subdivision 1 of section 79 of the civil rights law, as amended
by chapter 687 of the laws of 1973, is amended to read as follows:
Except as provided in subdivision two a sentence of imprisonment in a
state correctional institution for any term less than life or a
sentence of imprisonment in a state correctional institution for an
indeterminate term, having a minimum of one day and a maximum of
natural life, forfeits all the public offices, and suspends, during
the term of the sentence all the civil rights, and all private trusts,
authority, or powers of, or held by, the person sentenced, and
forfeits the right to hold public office or a position of leadership
in a political party for a period of 10 years following the completion
of any sentence for a felony conviction under article one hundred
forty-five, one hundred fifty five, one hundred seventy, one hundred
seventy-five, one hundred ninety five, two hundred, two hundred ten,
or two hundred fifteen of the penal law, regardless of whether he or
she obtained a certificate of relief of disabilities from the division
of criminal justice services.

§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 EXISTING LAW :

There is no current law that will address this behavior.

 JUSTIFICATION :

We have seen in the past and, unfortunately will continue to see
political parties being manipulated by people who get themselves into
leadership positions for the purpose of personal gain.

This type of individual has been using political parties for his/her
own self serving reasons long before any of us were elected to public
office. Most notable was that of Tammany Hall between 1850, and
lasting till 1932 when Franklin Roosevelt stripped the Tammany
Organization of federal funding. We may not have an organization
demonstrating corruption of that scale in New York State today, but
corruption in political parties still exist none the less.

People join various political parties and regardless of which party
joined they expect their leadership do the right thing. They look
forward to the leadership putting the party's best interest ahead of
their own. They would like to win elections but they want to do it
through hard work. They do not want leadership that has been found
misrepresenting the party's interest with the leaderships personal
interest. When personal interest collides with the party's interest
corruption always raises its ugly head. There must be no other option
but to cut it off.

This legislation does exactly that. This legislation removes the
ability of those people that would manipulate, intimidate and / or
coerce members of any political party into supporting them for the
purpose of remaining in those positions. This legislation in place
tells the party members, "If leadership has broken the law, then that
leadership has no right to represent the parties best interest". This
legislation helps to stop the cronyism from spreading and sends a
message loud and clear that regardless of party affiliation this type
of behavior will not be tolerated in any community within the borders
of New York State. This legislation prevents any technicality or
mechanism currently in place from skirting the law and removes the
individual from that position.

Finally, it shows the public that the New York State Legislature takes
seriously the trust they, the voters, have given us to protect the
rights of individuals and our communities.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2013-14, Latimer - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT
OPERATIONS
2015-16, Latimer - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT
OPERATIONS (S.547)

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill will take effect immediately.