Clean Slate Law, which would seal certain criminal convictions, goes into effect

New York’s new "Clean Slate" law went into effect this month, though without the same fanfare or controversy that has accompanied other legal changes in criminal justice.

The Clean Slate Act creates an automatic process for sealing of certain criminal convictions — except for sex offenses and the most serious felonies — once people have completed their sentences and stayed out of trouble for certain periods of time.

Supporters say this allows people who committed crimes long ago and have paid their debt to society to no longer have convictions hamper their ability to get jobs and housing.

Backers also say there has been less pushback against the law — so far — in part because business groups and leaders came out strongly in favor as a way to widen the employment pool.

"While this deals with people in the criminal justice system, it isn’t a criminal justice bill," said Assemb. Catalina Cruz (D-Queens), who shepherded the legislation through the Assembly. "It’s a workforce development bill. It’s a jobs bill. It’s housing bill. ... People who might have opposed understood this was different."

"Business groups, labor, victims' advocates and law enforcement joined the Clean Slate coalition because it's a common sense and practical policy," said Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) in a statement.

The law was approved by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature in 2023, but didn’t become effective until Nov. 16, giving a full year of lead time. As for impact, 2.3 million New Yorkers currently have a conviction record, but legislative officials say roughly 1.4 million meet the law's criteria for sealing.

The new law allows for the sealing of criminal records once people have completed their sentences and remained out of trouble for a period of three years for a misdemeanor or eight for a felony.

The individual also can’t have any pending charges or be under supervision by a parole or probation agency.

Not all crimes are eligible for sealing. The law specifically states that the most serious type of felony — known as Class A, which includes charges such as murder — would never be eligible for sealing. Neither would any sex crimes.

In addition, even if a person’s conviction record is sealed to the public, the law allows courts and law enforcement to access such records if the person is part of a new criminal case or conviction, has applied for a firearm license or seeks a job for which fingerprinting and background checks are conditions of employment.

Also, if that person’s old crime required submission of DNA to the state’s DNA database, those records will not be destroyed because of the new law.

Sealing doesn’t happen immediately, either; a request must be made to the state Unified Court System. To allow for review, the system has until Nov. 16, 2027, to seal eligible cases.

According to a UCS statement: "The courts need to gather all of the person's convictions from every court in the state and connect each conviction to information about any time they spent in jail, on probation, parole, or under post-release supervision. This requires building new systems, which are still being developed."

Republicans who opposed the legislation said sealing of records shouldn’t be automatic but require judicial review.

Sen. Tom O’Mara (R-Elmira) wrote in a newsletter to constituents that the idea of a second chance was an "admirable and, in fact, widely held goal," but New York had a judicial review system for expunging records in place.

"Clean Slate, however, takes erasing of criminal records from public view to a whole new level — a sweeping, across-the-board, one-size-fits-all approach at the risk of crime victims and law-abiding New Yorkers," he wrote.

Cruz countered: "The old system didn’t really work because people either didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer or they had to wait forever for a free lawyer to apply for sealing."

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy