criminal justice reform Archives - Pappalardo & Pappalardo LLP

Opinion: New Report on Discovery Reform is Just Propaganda

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the writer only. They are not necessarily the views of the law firm or any of its attorneys. Last week,...

More Crime Victims in NY Now Eligible for Funds and Services

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. New York’s Office of Victim Services (“OVS”) has been around since 1966. Specifically, this state agency funds and supports victim assistance programs throughout the state...

Voting in New York With a Felony Record

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. When a person has lost the right to vote, this is called “disenfranchisement.” In the United States, an estimated 4.6 million citizens are barred from voting due to a felon...

Marijuana Possession by Youths: Loophole in New York’s MRTA

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In 2021, New York passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). We highlighted the new laws in a blog last year. In essence, the legislation legalized the produc...

More Changes to New York’s Discovery Laws

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. As we discussed in our blog last week, New York's 2022-2023 budget included some criminal legal reforms. In addition to changes to bail, there have been some changes to law...

Bail Laws Revised in New York’s 2022-2023 Budget

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. It’s been all over the news – New York has changed its bail laws yet again. In addition to bail, there were also other new laws and other revisions. These were included as...

New York’s DVSJA: Sentencing Options for Victims of Domestic Violence

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In May of 2019, New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) was signed into law. Previously, we mentioned the new law in a blog, and now we're detailing the...

How to Expunge a Prior Marijuana Conviction in New York

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In 2021, New York didn’t just decriminalize marijuana – the state legislature made it legal for recreational use. Under these new laws, convictions for such can, in some ca...

How Desk Appearance Tickets Really Work in New York

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Sometimes, when you’re alleged to have committed a crime, you’re not always taken into custody. In these cases, cops don’t use handcuffs and jail cells – they issue a Desk...

Factors Which Lower Risk of Future Criminal Behavior

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Recidivism is when someone who has been convicted of a crime commits another crime thereafter. Punishment for an offense is one way to lower the risk of future criminal beh...

“Clean Slate” Would Automatically Clear Criminal Records in New York

PLEASE NOTE: At our office, we have received a number of calls regarding the proposed Clean Slate Act. This blog is about a proposed law that is not yet in force. As of March 2022, the Clean Slate Act...

The Rise of Electronic Monitoring and its Costs to Criminal Defendants

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. 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 in...

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