NY State Senate Bill 2023-S222A

Senate Bill S222A

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Establishes application processing and review requirements for reprieves, commutations and pardons

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

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
May 21, 2024	reported and committed to finance
Jan 24, 2024	print number 222a
Jan 24, 2024	amend and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
Jan 03, 2024	referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Jan 04, 2023	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

Votes

- May 21, 2024 - Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee Vote
  S222A
  
  5
  
  Aye
  
  1
  
  Nay
  
  1
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee Vote: May 21, 2024
      
      aye (5)
      
      Bailey
      
      Myrie
      
      Rivera
      
      Salazar
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      nay (1)
      
      Gallivan
      
      aye wr (1)
      
      Rolison

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2023-S222 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A155
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Add §15-a, amd §17, Exec L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S7667, A9145

2023-S222 - Summary

Establishes application processing and review requirements for reprieves, commutations and pardons by the governor; requires the governor to provide: a written notification that the application has been received; a receipt number that the applicant can then use to check on his or her application status; guidelines for supplementing the application with additional or updated information

2023-S222 - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S222

SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing applica-
tion processing and review requirements for reprieves, commutations and
pardons

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 provides the title of the bill.

Section 2 establishes the legislative findings and intent.

Section 3 amends the Executive Law by adding a new section 15-a, which
requires the governor to provide written notification to the applicant
regarding receipt of application and a receipt number to check the
application's review status. Guidelines are also included in this new
section for supplementing applications with additional or updated infor-
mation, and providing written notification of the governor's decision.

Section 4 amends section 17 of the Executive Law by requiring the gover-

nor to submit quarterly reports on reprieves, commutations and pardons
to the legislature and publish them on a publicly accessible website.

Section 5 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The United States continues to aggressively incarcerate and deport
people, primarily people of color, at record rates. Approximately 9,000
individuals are serving life sentences in severely overcrowded and poor-
ly maintained institutions. Families, and the communities in which they
reside, become emotionally and financially destabilized with the perma-
nent loss of one of their own to the criminal justice system. Yet, lead-
ers are still hesitant to use reprieves, commutations and pardons as
tools to reduce the strain on the system.  From 2017 to 2020, New York's
governor received 6,405 clemency applications but only granted 81
pardons and 14 commutations. The clemency process is also difficult to
navigate and currently does not provide applicants with status updates
or the opportunity to expedite a decision when needed. This bill would
reduce the systemic injustice the clemency process currently perpetuates
by increasing transparency and accessibility.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S7667 of 2021-22: Reported and committed to Finance

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall apply to applications for reprieves, commutations
and pardons received on, before, or after the effective date of this
act. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.

2023-S222 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    222
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 4, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  MYRIE,  BAILEY,  BRISPORT, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, MAY,
   RIVERA, SALAZAR -- 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 executive law, in relation to establishing  applica-
   tion  processing  and  review requirements for reprieves, commutations
   and pardons
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "Clemency Justice Act of 2023".
   § 2. Legislative findings and intent.  The  legislature  hereby  finds
 that  families  and  communities  are  frequently  torn apart due to the
 United States' overzealous legal system and immigration system, and that
 one of the predominant tools to mitigate this issue, executive clemency,
 is grossly underused. Between 2017-2020, the governor's office  received
 6,405 clemency applications while only granting 81 pardons and 14 commu-
 tations.  The  legislature  further  finds  that the clemency process is
 convoluted, unequal, and difficult to navigate with no  way  for  appli-
 cants to check the status of their application or expedite it in case of
 an  emergency.  Meanwhile, an estimated 9,000 people, of which the over-
 whelming majority are people of color, are serving life sentences  while
 an  unprecedented  pandemic  ravages  prisons  and  detention centers. A
 simpler, more holistic approach to  granting  clemency  would  begin  to
 address  the  systemic  injustices of the immigration and criminal legal
 systems.
   § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 15-a to read
 as follows:
   § 15-A. PROCESS AND  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  CONSIDERING  APPLICATIONS  AND
 REQUESTS  FOR REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS. 1. UPON RECEIPT OF AN
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00135-01-3

 S. 222                              2
 
 APPLICATION FOR A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON,  THE  GOVERNOR  SHALL
 PROVIDE TO THE APPLICANT:
   A. A WRITTEN NOTIFICATION THAT THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED;
   B. A RECEIPT NUMBER THAT THE APPLICANT CAN THEN USE TO CHECK ON HIS OR
 HER APPLICATION STATUS;
   C.  GUIDELINES  FOR  SUPPLEMENTING  THE APPLICATION WITH ADDITIONAL OR
 UPDATED INFORMATION; AND
   D. AN ELECTRONIC OR WRITTEN NOTIFICATION WHEN A DECISION  IS  MADE  ON
 THE APPLICATION.
   2.  A.    THE  APPLICATION FOR A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON SHALL
 INCLUDE A SECTION ALLOWING APPLICANTS TO DESCRIBE AN URGENT NEED FOR THE
 REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON. FOR THE PURPOSES OF  THIS  SECTION,  AN
 "URGENT  NEED"  SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A PENDING DEPORTA-
 TION PROCEEDING  OR  FINAL  DEPORTATION  ORDER,  HUMANITARIAN  CONCERNS,
 HEALTH ISSUES AND THE AGING STATUS OF THE APPLICANT.
   B.  APPLICANTS  ARE  PERMITTED  TO  UPDATE  AN APPLICATION TO INDICATE
 URGENT  NEED  DUE  TO  CHANGED  CIRCUMSTANCES  FOLLOWING   THE   INITIAL
 SUBMISSION OF THE APPLICATION.
   3.  THE  GOVERNOR  SHALL  ISSUE  A DECISION ON APPLICATIONS INDICATING
 URGENT NEED  WITHIN  NINETY  DAYS  FROM  THE  DATE  THE  APPLICATION  IS
 RECEIVED.  ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS SHALL BE GRANTED OR DENIED, OR CONTIN-
 UED WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM THE DATE THAT THE APPLICATION IS RECEIVED.  ALL
 APPLICANTS  SHALL  RECEIVE WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF ANY SUCH ACTION TAKEN
 ON THE APPLICATION. CONTINUED APPLICATIONS SHALL BE LEFT OPEN  TO  ALLOW
 APPLICANTS  TO  SUBMIT  FURTHER SUPPORTING MATERIALS ACCORDING TO GUIDE-
 LINES PROVIDED TO THE APPLICANT BY THE GOVERNOR.
   § 4. Section 17 of the executive law, as added by chapter 545  of  the
 laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
   § 17. Governor  to  [communicate  annually  to legislature, reprieves,
 commutations and pardons. He must annually communicate to  the  legisla-
 ture,  each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon; stating the name of
 the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence  and  its
 date,  and  the  date  of  the  commutation,  pardon or reprieve] SUBMIT
 REPORTS TO THE LEGISLATURE ON A  QUARTERLY  BASIS  REGARDING  REPRIEVES,
 COMMUTATIONS  AND  PARDONS. 1. THE GOVERNOR SHALL SUBMIT A REPORT TO THE
 LEGISLATURE ON A QUARTERLY BASIS REGARDING REPRIEVES,  COMMUTATIONS  AND
 PARDONS.
   2. SUCH REPORT SHALL INCLUDE:
   A.  THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS
 SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO SECTION FIFTEEN-A OF THIS ARTICLE; AND
   B. IF A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON WAS GRANTED: (I) THE  DATE  OF
 THE  COMMUTATION, PARDON OR REPRIEVE; AND (II) THE AGE, GENDER, RACE AND
 ETHNICITY OF THE APPROVED APPLICANT; OR
   C. IF A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON WAS DENIED, THE  AGE,  GENDER,
 RACE AND ETHNICITY OF THE DENIED APPLICANT.
   3. SUCH REPORTS SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA-
 TION ABOUT APPLICANTS.
   4.  THE  REPORTS  REQUIRED  BY  THIS  SECTION  SHALL BE PUBLISHED ON A
 PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have  become a law and shall apply to applications for reprieves, commu-
 tations and pardons received before, on or after the effective  date  of
 this  act.  Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal
 of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of  this  act
 on its effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A155
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Add §15-a, amd §17, Exec L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S7667, A9145

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S222A

SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing applica-
tion processing and review requirements for reprieves, commutations and
pardons

 
PURPOSE:

To amend the Executive Law, in relation to establishing application
processing and review requirements for reprieves, commutations and
pardons.

 
SUMMARY OFPROVISIONS:

Section 1 provides the title of the bill.

Section 2 establishes the legislative findings and intent.

Section 3 amends the Executive Law by adding a new section 15-a, which

requires the governor to provide written notification to the applicant
regarding receipt of application and a receipt number to check the
application's review status. Guidelines are also included in this new
section for supplementing applications with additional or updated infor-
mation, and providing written notification of the governor's decision.

Section 4 amends section 17 of the Executive Law by requiring the gover-
nor to submit quarterly reports on reprieves, commutations and pardons
to the legislature and publish them on a publicly accessible website.

Section 5 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The United States continues to aggressively incarcerate and deport
people, primarily people of color, at record rates. Approximately 9,000
individuals are serving life sentences in severely overcrowded and poor-
ly maintained institutions. Families, and the communities in which they
reside, become emotionally and financially destabilized with the perma-
nent loss of one of their own to the criminal justice system. Yet, lead-
ers are still hesitant to use reprieves, commutations and pardons as
tools to reduce the strain on the system.  From 2017 to 2020, New York's
governor received 6,405 clemency applications but only granted 81
pardons and 14 commutations. The clemency process is also difficult to
navigate and currently does not provide applicants with status updates
or the opportunity to expedite a decision when needed. This bill would
reduce the systemic injustice the clemency process currently perpetuates
by increasing transparency and accessibility.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S7667 of 2021-22: Reported and committed to Finance

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall apply to applications for reprieves, commutations
and pardons received on, before, or after the effective date of this
act. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  222--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 4, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  MYRIE, BAILEY, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, GONZALEZ,
   HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, MAY, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR,  SEPULVEDA,  WEBB
   -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
   the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction -- recommitted to
   the  Committee  on  Crime  Victims, Crime and Correction in accordance
   with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,
   ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing applica-
   tion processing and review requirements  for  reprieves,  commutations
   and pardons
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "Clemency Justice Act".
   §  2.  Legislative  findings  and intent. The legislature hereby finds
 that families and communities are  frequently  torn  apart  due  to  the
 United States' overzealous legal system and immigration system, and that
 one of the predominant tools to mitigate this issue, executive clemency,
 is  grossly underused. Between 2017-2020, the governor's office received
 6,405 clemency applications while only granting 81 pardons and 14 commu-
 tations. The legislature further finds  that  the  clemency  process  is
 convoluted,  unequal,  and  difficult to navigate with no way for appli-
 cants to check the status of their application or expedite it in case of
 an emergency. Meanwhile, an estimated 9,000 people, of which  the  over-
 whelming  majority are people of color, are serving life sentences while
 an unprecedented pandemic  ravages  prisons  and  detention  centers.  A
 simpler,  more  holistic  approach  to  granting clemency would begin to
 address the systemic injustices of the immigration  and  criminal  legal
 systems.
   § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 15-a to read
 as follows:
   §  15-A.  PROCESS  AND  REQUIREMENTS  FOR CONSIDERING APPLICATIONS AND
 REQUESTS FOR REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS. 1. UPON RECEIPT OF  AN

 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00135-03-4
 S. 222--A                           2
 
 APPLICATION  FOR  A  REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON, THE GOVERNOR SHALL
 PROVIDE TO THE APPLICANT:
   A. A WRITTEN NOTIFICATION THAT THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED;
   B. A RECEIPT NUMBER THAT THE APPLICANT CAN THEN USE TO CHECK ON HIS OR
 HER APPLICATION STATUS;
   C.  GUIDELINES  FOR  SUPPLEMENTING  THE APPLICATION WITH ADDITIONAL OR
 UPDATED INFORMATION; AND
   D. AN ELECTRONIC OR WRITTEN NOTIFICATION WHEN A DECISION  IS  MADE  ON
 THE APPLICATION.
   2.  A.    THE  APPLICATION FOR A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON SHALL
 INCLUDE A SECTION ALLOWING APPLICANTS TO DESCRIBE AN URGENT NEED FOR THE
 REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON. FOR THE PURPOSES OF  THIS  SECTION,  AN
 "URGENT  NEED"  SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A PENDING DEPORTA-
 TION PROCEEDING  OR  FINAL  DEPORTATION  ORDER,  HUMANITARIAN  CONCERNS,
 HEALTH ISSUES AND THE AGING STATUS OF THE APPLICANT.
   B.  APPLICANTS  ARE  PERMITTED  TO  UPDATE  AN APPLICATION TO INDICATE
 URGENT  NEED  DUE  TO  CHANGED  CIRCUMSTANCES  FOLLOWING   THE   INITIAL
 SUBMISSION OF THE APPLICATION.
   3.  THE  GOVERNOR  SHALL  ISSUE  A DECISION ON APPLICATIONS INDICATING
 URGENT NEED  WITHIN  NINETY  DAYS  FROM  THE  DATE  THE  APPLICATION  IS
 RECEIVED.  ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS SHALL BE GRANTED OR DENIED, OR CONTIN-
 UED WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM THE DATE THAT THE APPLICATION IS RECEIVED.  ALL
 APPLICANTS  SHALL  RECEIVE WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF ANY SUCH ACTION TAKEN
 ON THE APPLICATION. CONTINUED APPLICATIONS SHALL BE LEFT OPEN  TO  ALLOW
 APPLICANTS  TO  SUBMIT  FURTHER SUPPORTING MATERIALS ACCORDING TO GUIDE-
 LINES PROVIDED TO THE APPLICANT BY THE GOVERNOR.
   § 4. Section 17 of the executive law, as added by chapter 545  of  the
 laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
   § 17. Governor  to  [communicate  annually  to legislature, reprieves,
 commutations and pardons. He must annually communicate to  the  legisla-
 ture,  each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon; stating the name of
 the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence  and  its
 date,  and  the  date  of  the  commutation,  pardon or reprieve] SUBMIT
 REPORTS TO THE LEGISLATURE ON A  QUARTERLY  BASIS  REGARDING  REPRIEVES,
 COMMUTATIONS  AND  PARDONS. 1. THE GOVERNOR SHALL SUBMIT A REPORT TO THE
 LEGISLATURE ON A QUARTERLY BASIS REGARDING REPRIEVES,  COMMUTATIONS  AND
 PARDONS.
   2. SUCH REPORT SHALL INCLUDE:
   A.  THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS
 SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO SECTION FIFTEEN-A OF THIS ARTICLE; AND
   B. IF A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON WAS GRANTED: (I) THE  DATE  OF
 THE  COMMUTATION, PARDON OR REPRIEVE; AND (II) THE AGE, GENDER, RACE AND
 ETHNICITY OF THE APPROVED APPLICANT; OR
   C. IF A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON WAS DENIED, THE  AGE,  GENDER,
 RACE AND ETHNICITY OF THE DENIED APPLICANT.
   3. SUCH REPORTS SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA-
 TION ABOUT APPLICANTS.
   4.  THE  REPORTS  REQUIRED  BY  THIS  SECTION  SHALL BE PUBLISHED ON A
 PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have  become a law and shall apply to applications for reprieves, commu-
 tations and pardons received before, on or after the effective  date  of
 this  act.  Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal
 of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of  this  act
 on its effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.

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Senate Bill S222A

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Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2023-S222 - Details

2023-S222 - Summary

2023-S222 - Sponsor Memo

2023-S222 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S222A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments