Hochul Signs Legislation Empowering Criminals
Governor Kathy Hochul signs "Clean Slate Act" for automatic sealing of criminal records, enhancing reentry opportunities for convicts
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act into law today as part of broader criminal justice reform aimed at automatically sealing certain criminal records. The Act is set to go into effect in November of next year and is geared toward helping convicts—particularly Black ones—find gainful employment post-incarceration.
Related: Google review posted days before interracial murder arrest allegedly stems from disgruntled employee
The law allows access to sealed records for purposes such as law enforcement, licensing, employment in specific industries, roles involving vulnerable populations, and applications for licenses or housing.
In a bill signing ceremony broadcast live on X, formerly Twitter, Hochul battled against the specter of “disinformation,” stating that "we’re not sealing sex crimes or certain class A felonies.”
To her critics, Hochul appeared to downplay the law’s impact on the public safety of New Yorkers: "I'll tell you the truth, and I'll keep you safe. This will not make law enforcement's job harder."
Assessing the state's current homicide rate reveals a moderate figure of approximately 3.87 per 100,000 people. Despite this moderate rate, New York State ranked seventh nationally by volume of homicides in 2022.
Heavily non-White cities in New York, such as Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester, made CBS's list of the deadliest U.S. cities in 2021. This underscores persisting challenges faced by increasingly non-White urban areas, even in the aftermath of criminal justice reforms such as the congressional "First Step Act" (2018) and New York State's initiatives like "Raise the Age" and generalized bail reforms.
Much of the official discussion surrounding more recent reforms cites George Floyd—a Black career criminal alleged to be high on multiple controlled substances at his time of death—as inspiration.
These reforms, implemented in response to concerns about fairness and effectiveness in the criminal justice system, have prompted much criticism of their impact, particularly in NYS cities grappling with perpetually high crime rates from already lax law and procedure.
In 2015, the multiple violent felon and Black parolee, West Spruill gunned down a fully naked 36-year-old Ana Charle just outside the homeless shelter she ran until her death.
Moments before, Spruill had been sexually abusing the White woman in a vehicle at gunpoint. The naked Spruill was observed walking back to the vehicle in the Bronx, putting on his clothes, gathering his and her belongings and walked away.
Blacks often begin their State-enabled crime sprees in their youth. Case in point is the 2021 murder of Steven Amenhauser by Adriel Riley and Zayvion Perry, 14 and 16-years-old at the time of the murder.
With a “racial reckoning” looming large over Rochester, 2 Black teens, one with a history of targeting the disabled, immolated the mentally deficient White man inside his meager apartment in the minority-heavy Lyell Avenue district.
Targeting individuals for their race or disability is considered to be a hate crime in New York.
No hate crime charges were filed by Monroe County District Attorney, Sandra Doorley.
After Amenhauser was doused in a flammable liquid and set ablaze by the Blacks, the man ran into the street, screaming for help. He survived in the hospital for several days and was placed in a communal potter’s field at Riverside cemetery.
Additionally, suburban areas of NYS are now grappling with a surge in criminal activity.
In the Rochester, NY suburb of Gates, a Black parolee with a previous murder conviction is alleged to have shot and killed his employer. Malik Black was indicted on 1st degree murder charges for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of Jessica Romich, co-owner of Everdry Waterproofing and a mother of two.
A GVO investigation uncovered a suspicious Google review posted days after the shooting and days before Malik Black’s arrest.
Elected officials like Rockland County Executive Ed Day remark that fantasies of urban crime spreading have “seemingly penetrated the minds of suburbanites.”
Nonetheless, participation by New Yorkers in the failing US democracy is down, per reports.
The Clean Slate Act will take effect in November of next year.