Legislation Archives - Pappalardo & Pappalardo LLP

Exposure, Lewdness, and Other Offenses Against Public Sensibilities

There are some actions which are considered so offensive that they are criminalized. In New York, this includes exposure of intimate parts and other types of lewdness. They are criminalized under Arti...

The Rise of Electronic Monitoring and its Costs to Criminal Defendants

During the covid-19 pandemic, there was an increase in the use of electronic monitoring. Yet such monitoring has been available for some time. The use of ankle bracelets increased 140% between 2005 an...

The Hidden Costs of the NY Criminal Legal System

The old saying goes, “Crime doesn’t pay.” And in New York, getting involved in the criminal legal system can actually cost a lot of money. From supervision fees, to restitution, to fines and surcharge...

Facial Recognition and Its Use by Law Enforcement

Facial recognition is a way of identifying someone using a picture of their face. Then it is compared to pictures in a database. For example, if you have an iPhone, you may use the technology to unloc...

Property Crimes in New York – Does the Punishment Fit the Offense?

Property crimes are among the most common offenses in the criminal legal system. This includes theft of items and damaging another person’s belongings. Such crimes are non-violent, yet the punishment...

HALT – New York Will Reform Its Use of Solitary Confinement

In New York, legislators have been working for years to pass the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act (“the HALT Act”). Finally, the legislation has been passed and signed into la...

Marijuana Legalization Bill Signed Into Law in New York

New York previously considered the legalization of recreational marijuana. And in 2019, laws went into effect which decriminalized the drug. Yet possessing small amounts of marijuana would still resul...

Veterans Treatment Courts in New York State

Veterans are people who served the United State in active military, naval, or air service. In New York alone, there are 700,000 vets. In general, they are less likely to come into contact with the cri...

Decriminalizing Sex Work: Will Prostitution Become Legal?

It is often referred to as the “oldest profession.” Yet prostitution and patronizing a sex worker are crimes that, in some circumstances, carry heavy criminal penalties. Recently, there has been a tre...

RAI for Sex Offense Registration May Change With New Bill

In New York, persons convicted of certain sexual offenses are required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA”). They are assigned a risk level, mostly determined by their score on...

The “Gay Panic” Defense: Outlawed In New York

In the summer of 2019, New York became one of several states to ban “gay panic” defenses in homicide cases. Now, defendants cannot defend against a murder charge by claiming they were under extreme em...

Repeal of Section 50-a: Disclosure of Police Disciplinary Records

On Friday, June 12, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation repealing a law which prevented the disclosure of law enforcement disciplinary records to the public. What records were not previo...

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