NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8574
SPONSOR: Peoples-Stokes TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the correction law and the executive
law, in relation to college admission for persons previously convicted
of one or more criminal offenses
PURPOSE: Vivian's Law, formally known as The Fair Access to Education
Act, is named for Vivian Nixon who experienced the devastating impact of
criminal history screening in college admissions. After serving time in
prison, Vivian was determined to transform her life, and a college
education became central to her goal. The first college to which she
applied and for which she was academically well qualified denied her
admission based upon criminal history screening.
Vivian's college application experience is not unique. A growing number
of colleges and universities are screening applicants and erecting
barriers to admission for people with past criminal justice involvement
despite the fact that there is no evidence that doing so makes college
campuses safer.
There are many negative consequences that flow from this practice.
Access to higher education is highly correlated to economic stability
and social mobility It is also linked to reduced recidivism for people
with past criminal justice involvement. Moreover, because of the well-
documented existence of racial disparities in our criminal justice
system, screening applicants for past criminal justice involvement has a
disparate impact on applicants of color. As a result, screening college
applicants for past arrests and convictions undermines the gains made
during the civil rights era to increase higher education opportunities
for all people, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
This bill will promote enhanced public safety, greater racial fairness,
and the economic and social well-being of all New Yorkers by removing
the needless barriers to higher education faced by people with past
criminal justice involvement.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: The Correction Law would be amended by adding
new provisions that explicitly prohibit colleges from asking about or
considering applicants' past arrests and/or convictions during the
application and admission decision-making process. In addition, a new
subdivision would be added to section 296 of the Executive (Human
Rights) Law to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice for colleges
to ask about or consider prior criminal justice involvement during the
application and admission decision-making process.
This bill would not prevent colleges from asking about or using informa-
tion about past criminal justice involvement once an applicant is admit-
ted to make post admission decisions, such as housing and support
services. In making such decisions, colleges are urged to consider the
reentry benefits of allowing students with past criminal convictions
full access to all aspects of college life, as well as the disparate
impact on students of color that will necessarily follow if decision-
making is based on criminal histories.
Long ago, in the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S.
493, the United States Supreme Court recognized the critical role that
education plays in our society and the importance of ensuring that all
people have access to education, stating as follows:
(Education) is required in the performance of our most basic public
responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foun-
dation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awak-
ening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later profes-
sional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his
environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably
be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an
education. Such an opportunity where the state has undertaken to provide
it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.
This legislation will make the aspirations of Brown v. Board of Educa-
tion a reality for people with past criminal justice involvement.
Furthermore, it is to the benefit of our great state's economy to have
more of its citizens as gainfully employed tax-payers than either re-in-
carcerated, or reliant on public assistance because they are unable to
compete in our demanding economy. By removing barriers to higher educa-
tion, those with past criminal justice involvement will be equipped with
the tools necessary to become fully reintegrated into society, in turn
strengthening families and the fabric of New York's communities.
