Bill Text: NY S01278 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to the definition of "direct relationship" for the purposes of article 23-A of the correction law regarding licensures and employment of persons previously convicted of one or more criminal offenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-07 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S01278 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01278-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1278

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 11, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. BAILEY, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and  when  printed  to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims,
          Crime and Correction

        AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation  to  the  definition  of
          "direct  relationship"  for  the  purposes  of  article  23-A  of  the
          correction law regarding  the  licensure  and  employment  of  persons
          previously convicted of one or more criminal offenses

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 750  of  the  correction  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  284  of  the  laws  of 2007, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    (3) "Direct relationship" means that there is a substantial connection
     5  between the nature of [criminal conduct] the crime for which the  person
     6  was convicted [has a direct bearing on his fitness or ability to perform
     7  one  or  more of] and the duties or responsibilities necessarily related
     8  to the license, opportunity, or job  in  question  and  such  connection
     9  would  create  an  unreasonable  risk  to  property  or to the safety or
    10  welfare of specific individuals or the general public upon the  issuance
    11  or  continuation of a license or the granting or continuation of employ-
    12  ment of such person.
    13    § 2.  Section 752 of the correction law, as amended by chapter 284  of
    14  the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
    15    §  752.  Unfair discrimination against persons previously convicted of
    16  one or more criminal  offenses  prohibited.    No  application  for  any
    17  license  or employment, and no employment or license held by an individ-
    18  ual, to which the provisions of this article are  applicable,  shall  be
    19  denied or acted upon adversely by reason of the individual's having been
    20  previously convicted of one or more criminal offenses, or by reason of a
    21  finding  of  lack  of  "good moral character" when such finding is based

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04407-01-3
        S. 1278                             2

     1  upon the fact that the individual has previously been convicted  of  one
     2  or more criminal offenses, unless[:
     3    (1)] there is a direct relationship, as such term is defined in subdi-
     4  vision three of section seven hundred fifty of this article, between one
     5  or  more  of  the previous criminal offenses and the specific license or
     6  employment sought or held by the individual[; or
     7    (2) the issuance or continuation of the license  or  the  granting  or
     8  continuation  of  the  employment  would involve an unreasonable risk to
     9  property or to the safety or welfare  of  specific  individuals  or  the
    10  general public].
    11    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    12  have become a law.