NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1317
SPONSOR: Aubry TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to second felony drug offenders; and to repeal subdivision 4 of
section 70.70 of the penal law relating thereto
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that all individuals facing
drug charges are treated similarly, without regard to prior non-drug
related convictions.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 70.70 of the
penal law, as amended by section 23 of part AAA of chapter 56 of the
laws of 2009.
Section 2: Repeals subdivision 4 of section 70.70 of the penal law.
Section 3: Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 216.00 of
the criminal procedure law, as added by section 4 of part AAA of chapter
56 of the laws of 2009.
Section 4: Sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
When the Rockefeller drug laws were revised in 2004 and 2009, sentences
were reduced for people charged with drug crimes, positive steps forward
in New York in regard to the goal of transforming the criminal legal
system to be more humane and just. However, an anomaly in these reforms
was the new provision requiring that people charged with non-violent
drug offenses who had a prior violent felony conviction had their
sentences enhanced (Penal Law 70.70 (4)). This had never previously been
required. People charged with drug crimes are the only people charged
with non-violent offenses whose sentences are enhanced because a predi-
cate felony conviction was for a violent crime. In the 2009 Rockefeller
drug law revisions, these individuals were made ineligible for the judi-
cial diversion program even though it has been demonstrated that commu-
nity-based drug treatment is a far more effective and cost-effective way
to reduce recidivism than incarceration, thus benefiting not just the
individual but also their communities and the public at large.
New York must repeal 70.70 (4), so as to realign New York's sentencing
laws, allowing individuals charged with drug crimes to be treated iden-
tically with individuals charged with other non-violent offenses, basing
sentences on their current offenses and not prior criminal history.
CPL 216.00 must also be amended, making these individuals eligible for
the judicial diversion program so judges can send them to treatment
rather than incarceration when that is appropriate. Because individuals
with prior violent felony convictions are not eligible for merit time,
both CPL 216.00 (1) (a) (i) and (ii) and a portion of (iii) must be
stricken in order to make these individuals eligible for the judicial
diversion program. These amendments will move New York one step closer
to meeting the current calls for criminal legal system reforms and
social justice.
RACIAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
Given the systemic racism in the criminal legal system, these laws no
doubt have a disproportionate impact on New York's Black and Latinx
communities, as they are disproportionately arrested and convicted for
drug offenses far beyond their population and drug usage rates. This
bill, to repeal PL 70.70 (4), and amend CPL § 216.00, would move New
York one step closer to addressing inequities in the legal system.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: Referred to Codes in 2021 and Amended and Recommitted to
Codes in 2022.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect immediately and shall apply to cases where a
sentence is imposed on or after the effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1317
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. AUBRY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to second felony drug offenders; and to repeal subdivision 4
of section 70.70 of the penal law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 70.70 of the
2 penal law, as amended by section 23 of part AAA of chapter 56 of the
3 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Applicability. This subdivision shall apply to a second felony
5 drug offender [whose prior felony conviction was not a violent felony].
6 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 70.70 of the penal law is REPEALED.
7 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 216.00 of the criminal
8 procedure law, as added by section 4 of part AAA of chapter 56 of the
9 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
10 (a) within the preceding ten years, excluding any time during which
11 the offender was incarcerated for any reason between the time of commis-
12 sion of the previous felony and the time of commission of the present
13 felony, has previously been convicted of[: (i) a violent felony offense
14 as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or (ii) any other offense
15 for which a merit time allowance is not available pursuant to subpara-
16 graph (ii) of paragraph (d) of subdivision one of section eight hundred
17 three of the correction law, or (iii)] a class A felony offense [defined
18 in article two hundred twenty of the penal law]; or
19 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to cases
20 where a sentence upon a conviction is imposed on or after such effective
21 date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00510-01-3
