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: Our office has received a number of calls regarding the Clean Slate Act. This blog is about a proposed law that was not yet in force. The Clean Slate Act has now been signed into law, and...
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...
The Hidden Costs of the NY Criminal Legal System
By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. 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 restitu...
Criminal Legal Responsibility: When an Adolescent Commits a Crime
By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. An adolescent is less likely to appreciate the consequences of his/her actions. While this isn’t an excuse for their behavior, it does raise the question about what the app...