With A Stroke Of The Governor’s Pen, NY Becomes 12th State To Enact Clean Slate
David R. Jones, The Urban Agenda
Last week, Governor Hochul signed into law the Clean Slate Act, legislation that will relieve millions of New Yorkers from the perpetual punishment of old criminal records, a burden that has always fallen more harshly on Blacks and Latinos. The new law goes into effect November 2024.
New York now becomes the 12th state to enact common-sense laws aimed at increasing economic opportunities for people who have paid their debt to society and deserve a chance to fully participate in their communities and contribute to their economies. At the bill signing ceremony, held at the Brooklyn Museum, the governor summed up the rationale for making Clean Slate law in New York: “We’re not going to continue to judge people on their worst moments in life when they’ve paid their debt.”
One in seven New Yorkers has a conviction history, the majority of whom are people of color, reflecting decades of discriminatory policing and prosecution and resulting mass incarceration. In too many instances, unfounded concerns and raw racial prejudice disguised as business judgment, kept many employers from offering jobs to people with conviction histories. No more.
The Clean Slate Act automatically seals convictions after three years for misdemeanors and eight years for all but the most serious felonies. Sex offenses are never sealed; records remain visible to law enforcement and government agencies that screen those who work with vulnerable people; and people may not receive sealing until they are off of probation or parole. But Clean Slate recognizes that those who have demonstrated their rehabilitation by living safely in the community should, at a certain point, no longer be burdened by a stale conviction.
Clean Slate Is Good for New York’s Economy
The economic arguments in favor of Clean Slate are numerous and well-documented. According to a recent study, Clean Slate will generate $12.6 billion in estimated annual earnings to New York State. Nationally, we lose $87 billion annually in GDP by excluding individuals with conviction records from the workforce. On an individual basis, those with a felony or misdemeanor conviction earn between 22 percent and 16 percent less each year than their peers, adding up to nearly $100,000 over a lifetime. For those who were incarcerated after conviction, however, the effect is a staggering 52 percent loss in annual earnings and over $480,000 in a lifetime. For the state and its citizens, Clean Slate promises an economic windfall.
The governor’s signature on this historic legislation is a victory years in the making. I’ve been speaking out on records expungement since 2016, when my organization, the Community Service Society, launched the predecessor to the Clean Slate New York campaign. We involved ourselves in this work not just for the economic reasons discussed above, but also because of our experience providing direct services to individuals impacted by conviction records.
Through our Next Door Project, we meet with thousands of New Yorkers each year who have been harmed by the criminal legal system. We see firsthand the devastating psychological and emotional impact of living with a conviction record. In a state where a background check is almost universally required to get a job, to get an apartment, or to get an education, a person’s hope for a decent life for themselves and their families are permanently reduced by a criminal record.
Clean Slate changes everything. Now that the legislation has been signed, we can provide a concrete date on which the dark cloud cast by their criminal record will be lifted. We can say truthfully to our clients that so long as you continue to remain out of trouble with the law, a better future is ahead. The punishment which you’ve endured for years is no longer perpetual. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is hope.
Because today is Thanksgiving, I feel called to express my gratitude to some of the people who made this victory possible. I thank Governor Hochul for signing the bill and Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins for making sure it made it to the Governor’s desk. I am grateful to the bill’s sponsors, Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, whose dedication to this bill through years of arduous work and hours of conversation, negotiation, and debate has been inspiring and vital. I am thankful to the organizers, advocates, and lawyers who dedicated years to this campaign and to the hundreds of organizations that joined the coalition, including Fortune 500 companies, labor unions, faith leaders, and civil rights groups that worked across differences and in solidarity for this noble cause.
Most of all, I am filled with gratitude for the directly impacted leaders who demanded the laws of this state be changed, who sacrificed countless hours meeting with legislators, sharing their stories, and refusing to be ignored. It is their victory more than anyone else’s. And in the years to come, it will be their successes and triumphs that will determine the success of Clean Slate.