New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, one of the “three people in a room” who hammer out the contours of a state budget, announced Tuesday that progress was being made on one of the stickier issues holding up the spending plan: Discovery.

He told Capital Tonight that over the last four days, he and his staff, working with the five New York City district attorneys, came up with a framework of a deal on the issue that he presented to his conference Tuesday.

Two prominent downstate district attorneys showed up at the state Capitol bright and early Monday to make the case for Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed discovery reforms, as Hochul decided to throw a few curveballs into negotiating a budget that will be a week late at the strike of midnight Tuesday.

An extender was passed to bridge the funding gap to Wednesday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday proposed a new slate of prison reforms for the budget to reignite criminal justice talks while the head of the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision said he supports the governor's plan to close more facilities.

Multiple lawmakers briefly conferenced proposals from Hochul on Tuesday to expand opportunities for people in prison to reduce long sentences with credits for good behavior or job training — a priority Hochul included in this year's legislative agenda.

A 22-day prison strike and the multiple deaths of those incarcerated during that time has reignited conversations about reforms in the state prison system.

A report last fall claims white people were offered parole at higher rates than people of color — and the gap has widened in the last three years.

On the eve of the state budget deadline, a deal remains well out of reach.

New York state Budget Director Blake Washington acknowledged to reporters Monday that the debate over changes to the state’s discovery laws has Gov. Kathy Hochul doubling down. When asked if discovery is an area where the governor was not interested in compromise, Washington answered in the affirmative.

Critics of the 2020 discovery laws reform argue that prosecutors no longer have access to law enforcement systems needed to obtain information like police reports. But a bill sponsored by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and state Assemblyman Micah Lasher addresses that hurdle.

The two Democrats have introduced bills that would give prosecutors access to systems they need to fulfill their discovery requirements. S613-A825 would require police departments to provide district attorneys’ offices access to their electronic records for discovery purposes.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday that she is “excited” about efforts which she described as “redoing our prison system” in the wake of a three-week illegal strike by correction officers across the state.

The governor’s response to the strike may have ultimately sent 75% of officers back to work after days of back and forth, but it has infuriated advocates for the HALT Act as certain aspects of the law, which limits the use of solitary confinement and replaces aspects of it with rehabilitative programming, remain on a 90-day suspension. The governor blamed that suspension in part on the 25% of officers who refused to return.

The aunt of a 22-year-year old Mid-State Correctional inmate who died last week and prison reform activists spoke Friday, days after Gov. Kathy Hochul said it appeared “extremely disturbing conduct” led to the man's death.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) placed 15 individuals on leave in connection to the death of Messiah Nantwi.

The budget debate to change New York's discovery laws has started to heat up as pushback mounts against Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to roll back the 2019 law that hastened the deadline for prosecutors to turn over legal evidence to defense.

Hochul proposed evidence-sharing changes in her executive budget to avoid case dismissals when a judge fails to disclose materials they deem irrelevant and to make penalties for discovery violations proportional to criminal charges after an uptick in dismissals of low-level criminal cases in New York City on technicalities.

The HALT Act has been one of the central bones of contention of the now 11-day wildcat strike among New York correction officers. Spectrum News 1 learned Thursday evening a tentative deal had been reached between negotiators.

The 2022 law limits how solitary confinement may be used in prisons across the state. It also creates more humane and effective alternatives to such confinement through educational programs.

Wednesday was the tenth day of the illegal, unsanctioned strike of New York state's correction officers and the third day of mediation between the state and union officials.

What continues is also the top line demand — a repeal or significant review of the HALT Act, which restricts solitary confinement.

Correction officers in New York on Monday entered their second week of an illegal strike over staffing shortages, regulations from the HALT Act and more.

Meetings between the state, union leaders and a mediator began Monday as the state Capitol became a stage for those directly impacted by the strikes to bring their concerns to lawmakers.

According to the Correctional Association of New York, the only organization designated by law to provide independent monitoring and oversight of state prisons, the death of Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional facility reflects systemic problems at New York’s prisons.

The association released a report on Marcy Correctional in 2022 showing abuses that had been documented at other facilities across the state.

AMHERST, N.Y. -- Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out her 2025 priorities last month during her State of the State and budget presentations, but members of her administration say the work is far from done.

On Wednesday at the University at Buffalo, cabinet members Kelli Nicholas Owens and Bea Hanson hosted their first of 10 meetings across the state with stakeholders, focusing largely on proposals for crime victims and specifically victims of gender-based crimes.

The state’s HALT Act, which restricts the use of solitary confinement in prisons, has been in the news a lot lately.

It was signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021. But over the past few months, prison guards have blamed the HALT Act for violence in prisons. Most recently, they point to an incident at Collins’ Correctional facility in western New York where 11 guards and a nurse were sent to the hospital after a prisoner’s suspected suicide attempt.

Republicans in the state Legislature and leaders of law enforcement groups Tuesday took to the steps of the Capitol to slam Democrats for criminal justice reforms they say have influenced the state parole board to release New Yorkers convicted of killing a police officer.

U.S. Senate candidate Michael Sapraicone, who is running against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand this November, joined the rally in Albany as a campaign stop.

As New York lawmakers prepare for hours of debate in the last scheduled week of session, a bill expected to easily clear both houses in the next few days would grant immunity to sex workers and survivors of human trafficking who help law enforcement with a criminal investigation.

The bipartisan-backed sex worker immunity bill is unrelated to decriminalizing sex work in New York, but would protect sex workers from going to jail for reporting a crime to law enforcement.

New York lawmakers are considering criminal justice reforms to improve transparency of county jails throughout the state before session ends next month.

Legislation to improve the oversight of local jails and protections for incarcerated people in those county facilities advanced through the state Senate Crime Victims, Crime & Correction Committee last week, giving supports hope it could clear both houses of the Legislature before June 6.

New York lawmakers are in the process of considering a bill that would close what they call a loophole in how sex crimes can be prosecuted. They say current state law allows someone accused of rape to use the victim’s voluntary intoxication as a legal defense.

William Rivera, interim executive director of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault, calls language in current New York state law creating that loophole “codified victim blaming.”

Last week's death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller has prompted state leaders and lawmakers to revive talks of New York's bail reform law and questioning if the policy that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges should be amended a fourth time.

Diller, who was 31, was killed March 25 in Far Rockaway, Queens, while conducting a traffic stop. The man accused of fatally shooting Diller had a record of 21 prior arrests — sparking conversation across the political spectrum about flaws in the state's criminal justice system.

New York Republican lawmakers are once again calling for changes and outright rollbacks of the state’s bail laws, pointing to recent incidents in the state as why the law is problematic.

First passed in 2019, Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, have amended the law three times since then, the most recent being last year.

New York state lawmakers and advocates rallied for parole reforms at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Advocates are calling for passage of both the elder parole bill and fair and timely parole bills.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed a bill into law that will create a community commission to look into potential slavery reparation.

The panel will be tasked with studying the state's history of slavery and how to repair its lasting impacts on descendants of enslaved New Yorkers. Slavery remained legal in New York until 1827.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to sign legislation Tuesday which would create a community commission that would look into potential slavery reparation remedies, according to the bill’s sponsor, state Assembly Member Michaelle Solages.

The commission would be tasked with studying the state's history of slavery and how to repair its lasting impacts on descendants of enslaved New Yorkers. Slavery remained legal in New York until 1827.

New York state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris is introducing a bill aimed to increase the transparency of New York's criminal courts following a report that shows a very small percentage of criminal court decisions are published, the senator announced Monday.

The report, from Reinvent Albany, and co-authored by Scrutinize, said at least 94% of written criminal court decisions in New York are not published and calls for decisions to be published online to improve public accountability.

As criminal justice advocates celebrate Thursday's signing of the Clean Slate Act to seal New Yorkers' past criminal records, Republican lawmakers and some prosecutors are raising concerns about its potential consequences.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act into law Thursday morning at the Brooklyn Museum. The long-debated legislation will automatically seal a person's criminal records three years after the end of the prison sentence for a misdemeanor, and eight years for most felony records.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law a long-debated bill to automatically seal the criminal records of millions of New Yorkers a certain period after their release, she announced Thursday.

Known as the Clean Slate Act, the law will automatically seal criminal records for about 2.3 million New Yorkers three years after sentencing for a misdemeanor and eight years after a person is released from prison for a felony conviction. It does not apply to class A felonies or crimes that required a person to register as a sex offender.

New York Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay (R,C-Pulaski) and the Assembly Republican Conference introduced a bill Friday that would make certain criminal offenses bail-eligible, in response in part to recent threats made against Jewish students at Cornell University.

In part, the bill looks to ensure that threats of mass harm can be treated as hate crimes, while also giving judges more discretion when making pre-trial decisions.

Gov. Kathy Hochul next week will sign a long-debated bill to automatically seal the criminal records of millions of New Yorkers a certain period after their sentencing, according to sources that say the governor's office sent out invitations for the bill signing, continuing a years-long Democratic crusade in Albany of passing criminal justice reform.

Known as the Clean Slate Act, the legislation will automatically seal criminal records for about 2.3 million New Yorkers three years after sentencing for a misdemeanor and eight years after a person is released from prison for a felony conviction. It does not apply to class A felonies or crimes that required a person to register as a sex offender.

Over 160 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which ended slavery in the United States. Now in 2023, state lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment that would mark an “end of slavery for all” by ending forced labor in prisons in the state of New York.

The amendment’s state Senate sponsor, Zellnor Myrie, told Capital Tonight that the amendment would make a “statement” that “we will not have slavery by any form or by any name exist in this state.”

Over the last four years, New York officials have made changes to the state's criminal justice policies. Now, a new panel announced Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul will review the policies and make recommendations for potential changes.

The effort will be led by Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and Division of Criminal Justice Services Commissioner Rossana Rosado with the portfolio of assessing current state policies and programs while also proposing new measures meant to strengthen New York's "efforts to advance equity, reduce disparities, and decrease recidivism to make communities safer and stronger," Hochul's office said.

When Gov. Kathy Hochul ran for a full term last year, Republicans repeatedly raised the issue of crime and public safety concerns facing New Yorkers.

She pivoted in January to making another push for changing the state's cashless bail, which had been a flashpoint in the election season. Six months later, Hochul this week said progress has been made in making the state safer.

Convictions in New York could soon face more scrutiny under legislation given final approval this week by state lawmakers.

For supporters, it's another step toward creating a more equitable criminal justice system, especially for defendants of color. But opponents, including Republican lawmakers and law enforcement officials, say the measure raises too many potential questions for victims of crime.

Years of lobbying have led to this point for criminal justice advocates: A bill will be heading to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk that would automatically seal an estimated 2.3 million criminal records.

Supporters are turning their attention to the implementation of the pending law as well as alerting people who will be affected that their criminal record will be sealed without any action on their part. But opponents, including the statewide district attorneys association in New York, are continuing to raise public safety concerns with the measure while urging the governor to veto it.

The finalized measure that would automatically seal millions of criminal records in New York may have satisfied the concerns of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The governor, speaking in Buffalo earlier on Monday, signaled the legislatively approved measure is "much closer to what I've asked for" when it comes to exceptions for crimes like murder and rape.

A proposal to automatically seal many criminal records was approved by the state Assembly on Friday in a milestone vote for a measure that has previously languished in the chamber.

The measure was approved after an hours-long debate in the state Assembly, 83-64.

A major agreement for housing is off the table in Albany, but a bill to seal many criminal records remains very much alive.

New York lawmakers are working to conclude the legislative session that could culminate with a bill that seals many criminal records. It's a long-sought measure for criminal justice reform advocates, but one that has been opposed by law enforcement organizations who mounted a final effort on Thursday to oppose the legislation.

For supporters of automatically sealing criminal records in New York, millions of people with criminal convictions that are now years old would be able to secure housing and a job — potentially keeping them out of the criminal justice system for good.

For opponents, the measure raises too many logistical and public safety question marks.

Housing policy to address a spiraling affordability problem and a measure that would seal criminal records after a number of years for potentially millions of New Yorkers have become the top-tier issues ending the legislative session in Albany.

State lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are weighing agreements on both issues as members of the Legislature seek to conclude their Capitol work for the remainder of the year.

State legislative leaders say they're close to reaching a deal to change state law to seal New Yorkers' criminal records after a certain period of time as the legislative session races toward the finish line.

"We are definitely negotiationg — I think we're pretty close," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday.

Whether to seal criminal records in New York is coming down to one key question for Democrats: How long should a person’s conviction affect their life?

Democratic lawmakers this month are negotiating a plan that would seal many criminal records — helping those with convictions obtain a job or housing. But Republicans remain skeptical, arguing that recidivism is harder to judge and capture.

A proposal that would make it easier for people who have served more than a decade in prison to be considered for parole is gaining ground in the state Senate with a majority of lawmakers in the chamber now signing on to support the bill.

Supporters of the legislation on Tuesday announced the bill has the backing of 32 lawmakers as advocates hope to approve the measure before the legislative session ends on June 8.

With the clock ticking down on the New York legislative session, criminal justice advocates are calling for passing “Clean Slate” legislation before the scheduled end of the legislative session on June 8.

State Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, a Queens Democrat who sponsors the legislation in the Assembly, told Capital Tonight that she’s “confident” that the bill can get done by June 8 thanks to additional support the bill has gotten after “significant changes” were made.

New York state lawmakers, facing the final month of the legislative session, are considering a broad range of measures meant to address the state's criminal justice and public safety laws as voters continue to rank crime as a top priority for them.

The measures are varied: Supporters hope a bill to seal many criminal records is gaining momentum in the state Assembly, while Democrats are also calling for provisions to address retail theft and assaults on workers.

For years, criminal justice advocates have called for a measure to seal many criminal records in New York in order to help formerly convicted people find employment.

But the legislation has stalled in the state Assembly, which despite its large Democratic majority and recent track record of making progressive-backed changes to criminal justice laws, has not taken up the provision known as the Clean Slate Act for a vote.

For the third time in the last four years, New York's law for when cash bail is required in criminal cases is set to change, an amendment driven by ongoing concerns over crime and public safety registered by voters, but opposed by the progressive supporters of a 2019 law.

An agreement in the tentative state budget deal announced Thursday by Gov. Kathy Hochul will end the so-called "least restrictive" restrictive standard when bail is being considered by judges in serious criminal cases and give them more discretion when considering bail.

Changes to New York’s controversial bail law have dominated the budget talks. But behind the scenes, further changes to the state’s criminal justice system could be made as part of a final spending plan that is now more than two weeks past its due date.

Lawmakers are weighing with Gov. Kathy Hochul whether to make further changes to the state's discovery law first approved four years ago as a way of accelerating access to evidence for criminal defendants.

Discovery laws in New York could be under scrutiny in the state budget talks as organizations representing public defenders on Wednesday raised opposition to any potential amendments.

Prosecutors have called for changes as well as more money to handle the faster turning over of evidence to defense, pointing to how time consuming the recently passed provisions have become for their offices.

Changes to how New York’s bail laws work have courted growing controversy over the last four years – and are coming to a head in the state budget talks this month.

Top Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are trying to thread a delicate needle: Making changes to a 2019 law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges without undermining the original intent of the measure to ensure low-income people accused of crimes are not unfairly languishing in jail awaiting trial.

Potential changes to New York's bail law remains the dominate issue in the ongoing budget talks, now 10 days past its due date.

State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters Monday the negotiations continue to center around Gov. Kathy Hochul's effort to make it easier for judges to set cash bail when defendants face serious criminal charges.

Labor unions this week are urging lawmakers to reject proposals to amend New York's 2019 law that limited the use of cash bail as the late state budget hinges on whether a deal on the issue can be reached.

Hochul wants to end the so-called "least restrictive" provision under the law that could enable judges to require bail under serious criminal charges. A broader state budget agreement has been late by a week over the issue.

New York's state budget debate has included weighty topics that will affect millions of people in the state: How to expand housing, whether the minimum wage should be increased, whether charter schools should expand and if wealthy people should get another tax increase.

But all of those issues are being subsumed in the budget talks by negotiations over once again changing New York's 2019 bail law.

Hundreds of progressive-leaning organizations on Monday urged state lawmakers to avoid broad changes to New York's bail law that would result in jailing more defendants.

The plea from the groups, including the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition, CUNY Rising Alliance, Housing Justice for All, Sunrise Movement NYC, and the Alliance for Quality Education, comes as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are negotiating a state budget that was due to pass last weekend, but remains unsettled.

New York will start its fiscal year without a state budget in place as Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers have failed to reach the April 1 deadline amid differences over issues that range from housing policy to making alterations to a 2019 bail law.

Talks are expected to continue into the weekend between the governor and the top Democrats in the state Legislature. But rank-and-file members of the state Assembly and Senate have left the building, and despite the warnings from legislative leaders, indicated they will be out of Albany for at least part of the weekend with no agreement appearing imminent.

Top Democrats in the state Legislature on Thursday signaled a willingness to "clarify" New York's 2019 bail law as conversations surrounding the issue remain a key sticking point in the unresolved state budget talks.

State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins did not rule out a potential compromise on the bail issue as Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for ending a so-called "least restrictive" provision for when judges determine bail for serious criminal charges.

More than 100 law school professors in New York, in a letter to top state officials, urged them to turn down changes to a law that curtailed the use of cash bail for criminal charges.

The letter argues that contracting the law to end the use of a "least restrictive" means standard for when judges consider bail for serious criminal charges would lead to lower-income people and people of color behind bars while awaiting trial.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday defended the public safety initiatives in her executive budget proposal, including her push to change the state's bail reform laws, after releasing new statewide crime data from the state Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Shootings in New York decreased by 16% from 2021 to 2022, including down 15% in upstate communities and a 17% reduction in New York City — or down to pre-pandemic levels, the governor said during a press conference in the state Capitol in Albany.

A bill that aims to seal many criminal records in New York is advancing in the state Senate after it was approved by a key committee in the chamber.

But full passage of the measure remains in doubt once again this year as supporters hope to either have the provision included in an agreed-to state budget in the coming days or approved by June 8, the final scheduled day of the legislative session.

A debate over the extent to which New York's criminal justice laws should be changed — balanced against concerns over crime and public safety — is once again dominating the budget negotiations in Albany.

Measures to address crime, but also create a more equitable system of criminal justice in New York, is part of the push and pull in the state budget talks with less than two weeks to go before the April 1 deadline.

New York state lawmakers unveiling their own budget proposals this week in negotiations with Gov. Kathy Hochul are calling for measures meant to address public safety, such as spending more money for after school programs, funding anti-violence organizations and addressing support for public defenders as well as prosecutors.

But top Democratic leaders in the state Senate and Assembly on Wednesday, a day after the proposals were released, indicated they had little intention of making further changes to a 2019 bail law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges.

This past weekend, the members of the Legislative Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus met up in Albany for their annual conference weekend.

The caucus’ chair, state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, a Long Island Democrat, told Capital Tonight that the weekend is used to celebrate successes and hammer out solutions to “systemic injustices” that communities of colors face in New York.

Last year, New York's law that curtailed the use of cash bail for many criminal charges became a flashpoint in the race for governor and a debate over public safety in the state.

But eight weeks into the new legislative session in Albany this year, the bail law has barely been a blip on the radar even as Gov. Kathy Hochul seeks yet another change to the measure.

A bill meant to seal many criminal records has gained the backing of all of the newly Democratic elected members of the New York state Assembly, supporters of the legislation on Wednesday said.

The proposal, known as the Clean Slate Act by its supporters, has stalled in the state Assembly over the last several years.

Judges who preside over criminal courts would be required to undergo yearly training for New York's bail laws under a measure proposed Thursday by two state lawmakers.

The proposal, which was also paired with a measure that is meant to tighten investigative oversight by the Commission on Judicial Conduct, comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed in her $227 billion budget plan a change to the law that has largely restricted cash bail requirements for many criminal charges.

There is a lot in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget that the Legal Aid Society is disappointed with, including what it calls the budget’s failure to propose any new money for public defenders and legal service organizations.

“It’s really astonishing,” Tina Luongo, chief attorney of the Criminal Defense Practice for the Legal Aid Society, said of the governor’s $141 million increase in the Aid to Prosecution budget, and zero increase in the Aid to Defense budget for public defenders.

A bill that would seal many criminal records in New York has advanced through a key committee in the state Senate on Tuesday, but its fate this session in Albany remains up in the air.

Lawmakers on the state Senate Codes Committee approved the measure, known by its supporters as the Clean Slate Act, a move that sets the proposal up for final passage in the state Senate.

As she begins her full term this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to tackle voter concerns around crime. A key plank on her public safety agenda is increasing funding for changes to how evidence is handled in criminal cases.

"We are not going to allow people to commit crimes and violate our laws and hurt other individuals," Hochul said last week after visiting the Albany Public Safety Building. "We’re finding many, many ways to address it."

It’s a heavy lift achieving racial equity within well-established systems, including criminal justice, but that’s the goal of the Albany LEAD program: To drive greater racial equity in the legal system.

LEAD, which is an acronym for “Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion," started in Seattle, Washington in 2011. The program came to Albany in 2016. Since its inception, Albany Police have diverted 315 people from arrest.

The New York inspector general recently released a report on worsening racial disparities in the state's prisons.

According to the group Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP), one way the governor can address the issue is by granting more clemencies on a rolling basis.

Standing together in the Capitol in Albany on Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James said they will analyze pretrial release and other data in wake of changes the Legislature made to the state's cashless bail laws this spring.

Gov. Hochul left changing the state's bail laws open for discussion when the Legislature returns for session in January.

Financial assistance for the victims and survivors of crime whose property was damaged, stolen or destroyed will be able to receive up to $2,500 to replace items deemed to be essential for their health, safety or welfare.

The new reimbursement ends a $500 cap on damaged or stolen property.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares has seen enough — alarmed by a rise in shootings and other crimes that have plagued the state's capital city.

"In my city, in Albany County, it is the African American and Hispanic community that is bearing the burden of all of this violence," he said in an interivew Friday.

One of the most politicized issues of this election cycle is bail reform.

Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin, have argued that cashless bail has led to an increase in crime. Democrats like Gov. Kathy Hochul say it hasn’t.

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik released a letter on Wednesday questioning the move to change a purchasing code that could make it easier for authorities to track gun purchases.

The change, made by an international regulatory body earlier this year, has been embraced by Democrats and supporters of stricter gun laws. But Republicans, as well as gun dealers and owners, have called the change an erosion of rights and privacy.

Republicans across New York have been pushing for the state to change its bail laws.

Candidate for governor Lee Zeldin said while the governor's office uses data points to argue the current laws are working, there are too many stories of criminals who are released and proceed to commit more heinous crimes.

New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has remained one of the most steadfast and prominent supporters of the state measures that largely ended cash bail for many criminal charges.

And as the law has become a flashpoint in a larger debtate over crime and public safety in New York statewide, Heastie has decried how the law has been blamed — in his view unfarily — for rising violence.

In 1994, Republican George Pataki unseated Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo in the governor's race in part with a pledge to tackle crime and public safety in New York.

Now, nearly 30 years later, Pataki sees parallels in the campaign for governor as Republican nominee Lee Zeldin pushes a public safety message.

New York's law books will no longer use the word "inmate" to describe people in prison as part of a measure signed Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Use of the word "inmate" has come under criticism by advocates who have sought changes to New York's criminal justice system, arguing the term dehumanizes people. Laws in New York will now refer to people in prison as "incarcerated individuals."

Two parole reform bills pushed by New York criminal justice advocates became victims of rising violent crime around the country.

Elder Parole (S.15A/A.8855A) and Fair and Timely Parole (S.7514/A.4231) both languished at the end of a legislative session marked by a fierce pushback by the public, Republicans and moderate Democrats who see the national rise in crime as a powerful counter-narrative to the push for social justice seen in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and many others.

A measure that would seal criminal records for thousands of New Yorkers has the potential to be revived in the coming days after stalling for the last several years in Albany.

The bill, known as the Clean Slate Act, advanced out of a key committee in the state Senate on Tuesday afternoon. It's final fate, however, remains unclear as lawmakers plan to leave Albany by the end of the week for the rest of the year.

With the clock on the New York legislative session ticking, criminal justice reform advocates are hoping to secure an 11th hour win by passing the Clean Slate Bill, which would seal the criminal records of eligible New Yorkers. Garrett Smith, a statewide organizer at the Center for Community Alternatives, told Capital Tonight that a criminal record is a “scarlet letter” on the chest of New Yorkers hoping to access employment or housing.

The Clean Slate Bill, which is sponsored by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz (D-Queens), would automatically seal the criminal records of eligible New Yorkers seven years after sentencing for a felony and three years after the sentencing of a misdemeanor. Gov. Hochul included a clean slate proposal in her 2022 legislative agenda, but the bill hasn’t gotten over the finish line yet. Smith said there are disagreements on the timing of eligibility and argues that pushing the eligibility further back defeats the purpose of the clean slate legislation.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday called for legislation that would raise the age of purchasing certain types of firearms from 18 to 21 in New York in the wake of mass shootings in Texas and Buffalo this month that have jolted the nation.

Hochul said “at minimum” she wants the law to limit the purchase of AR-15-style weapons for those under age 21.

Finding ways of responding to the Buffalo mass shooting that left 10 people dead presents no easy solution, and for those tackling extremism online is a confluence of trends over the last several years.

The shooting has drawn in the rise and spread of violent hate speech over the internet and the access to guns despite stringent firearms laws in New York.

Top Republican lawmakers in the state Legislature are calling for a return to the death penalty in New York, reviving a debate over how to punish especially heinous crimes.

But in the years since the issue last resonated with voters in 1994, when Republican George Pataki swept into office when he ran on the issue that year, it's not clear if voters, or even if all Republicans would embrace the move.

State lawmakers on Tuesday advanced measures meant to aid people who have been wrongfully convicted in court as well as measures meant to aid immigrant New Yorkers in the legal system.

The measures are being pushed at the end of the legislative session as New York lawmakers consider a potential package of criminal justice law changes in the coming weeks.

Legislative sources say New York lawmakers plan to pass the Clean Slate Act before session ends June 2 that would seal New Yorkers' criminal records after a set period following their sentencing.

Lawmakers expect to pass a version close to the Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a Democrat from Brooklyn, that would automatically seal the criminal records of New Yorkers three years after sentencing for a misdemeanor offense and seven years for a felony.

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday became the latest company to join a coalition of private-sector firms, labor unions and criminal justice advocates to back a measure that would seal many criminal records in New York.

The company's participation in the Clean Slate Coalition comes as the measure continues to face an uncertain future in the state Legislature after lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul could not reach an agreement on it in the state budget negotiations last month.

As the negotiators ground on between lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul over the contentious debate surrounding New York's bail law, local prosecutors were brought in to discuss their concerns.

And now with those changes to the bail laws on the books, some prosecutors hope further efforts to address public safety will be made.

Changes to New York's 2019 law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges and other efforts to address public safety were needed in response to increasing crime, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday said.

But Hochul, fresh off the completion of her first spending plan, said the initial bail law should not be blamed for the rise in violent crime in New York, which has also been on the rise in other parts of the country.

Supporters of a measure that would seal criminal records years after a person has completed their debt to society are planning to continue to press for the provision's approval in New York after it fell out of the state budget talks.

Those supporters range from criminal justice reform organizations, labor unions, business leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul herself, who had backed a version of what's known as the "clean slate" bill in the budget plan.

New York Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris told Capital Tonight that state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul have made significant progress on the state’s late budget “in just the last couple of days” in spite of efforts to insert what he called “non-budget issues” like alcohol to-go and the reform of 421a into the spending plan.

“It seems like we’re finally clearing our way through all that and now getting to the dollars and cents, which is what the budget is really about,” Gianaris said. “And hopefully wrapping it up in the next couple of days."

New York state lawmakers are closing in on an agreement that could expand the circumstances in which cash bail would be required to include charges like gun trafficking as well as alleged repeat offenses, a top Democrat in the state Senate on Tuesday said.

The development comes as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are close to putting the finishing touches on a broader state budget agreement, which had been expected to pass on Friday.

Republican lawmakers who represent New York in the House of Representatives urged state officials to "completely reverse" the 2019 law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges in a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, pointing to a rise in violent crime.

The letter signed by the eight Republicans who represent New York in Congress, including candidate for governor Lee Zeldin, was sent as Democratic lawmakers and the governor negotiate potential changes that could expand the criteria for when cash bail could be set.

The debate over New York's bail laws and how the criminal justice system should treat people accused of crimes will likely continue after the state budget is finalized, advocates on Friday said.

Rank-and-file state lawmakers were gone from the state Capitol on Friday, but a small group of advocates who oppose any changes to New York's 2019 cashless bail law rallied once again in the otherwise empty building.

The New York Civil Liberties Union wants a faster way of sealing many criminal records in the state as part of a final budget deal.

The conversations over the proposal surrounding the "Clean Slate" Act are being held as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are considering a broad package of criminal justice law changes addressing concerns over cashless bail, evidence discovery procedures and access to tuition assistance for people in prison.