Senate Bill S7143

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7143

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the family court act and the penal law, in relation to
prohibiting public officials from unsealing juvenile police records

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

To prevent the unsealing and release of information contained in
juvenile offender records by public officials and/or employees by
making the offense punishable under the penal law.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

This bill amends section 1 of the Family Court Act by adding a new
section 381.4 to provide that, unless authorized by a court of
competent jurisdiction, the release by a public official and/or an
employee of juvenile offender records, and other court records that
have been, and are sealed, shall be specifically prohibited by law.
Section 195.00 of the Penal Law is also amended to provide that,
unless authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction, the release by
an appointed or elected public official and/or a public employee of
juvenile offender records and other court records that have been, and
are sealed pursuant to law, shall be an act of official misconduct.

              

 JUSTIFICATION :

Under current law, juvenile offender records, inclusive of the records
and entire documents, are sealed after adjudication to protect the
privacy of the entire proceeding. State laws specifically and directly
restrict the access to and disclosure of the information and the
record.  But, while the law clearly makes the release of the record
unlawful, there is no specific penalty attached for violation of the
law. The people most likely to have access to these records, and
therefore most likely to be the conduit for release and disclosure are
public employees, and appointed and elected officials. Because no
specific penalty or consequence is prescribed by current law, the only
real deterrent is moral or ethical obligation. Recent behavior by high
ranking officials in N.Y.C. has demonstrated that in the absence of
moral/ethical obligations, the law without teeth does not always work.
This bill, if enacted, would put teeth in the law by providing for
penalties appropriate for such misconduct by public officials and
employees who dishonor their oath of office.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2007-2008 A.5060
2005-2006 A.5017
2003-2004 A.6714
2001-2002 A.7080

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

No fiscal implications to the state.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law.