NY State Senate Bill 2017-S6259

Senate Bill S6259

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Prohibits courts from sealing agreements or records involving a public body or institution, a public hazard or public harm

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to judiciary
May 11, 2017	referred to judiciary

2017-S6259 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Judiciary Law
Laws Affected:: Add §4-a, Judy L

2017-S6259 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits courts from sealing agreements or records involving a public body or institution, a public hazard or public harm.

2017-S6259 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6259

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to
prohibiting courts from sealing agreements or records involving a
public body or institution or any public hazard or public harm

 PURPOSE :

To prohibit sealed, closed or secret settlements of a public body or
institution. To create a presumption of openness concerning all public
and private parties in litigation regarding court records or
settlements which can be overcome by a serious, specific and
substantial interest in having the records closed or sealed.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 4-a of the Judiciary Law is amended to forbid Court approval
of a settlement agreement which involves a public body or Institution.
The provisions also void any agreement by a public body which conceals
a public hazard. The provisions also create a presumption of openness
regarding all public and private parties in litigation concerning
court records that can be overcome upon a specific, serious and
substantial interest in closing or sealing court records.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Secrecy and gag orders have harmfully impacted the broader public in
the private sector, the health care sector, the clergy, college sports
and now possibly in the public sector. The history of secrecy
agreements involving significant public harm include: 1) the
prescription drugs Zomax and Halcion, the Shiley heart valve, and the
Dalkon Shield intrauterine device; 2) the Bridgestone/Firestone tire
defect litigation linked to the deaths of over 250 people in the
United States, with scores of cases settled secretly; 3) the number of
clergy sexual abuse claims, With an estimated 400 lawsuits that the
Chicago Catholic Church had settled in the previous decade-almost all
of them secretly; 4) high dollar Wall Street securities scandals, 5)
scandals at special needs health care facilities, where a home
administrator sexually abused a Down's Syndrome resident, the case
settled and the administrator later admitted to sexually abusing over
a dozen others. The abuse appears in a wide cross section of differing
sectors of society and is ongoing, Sunshine legislation has been
utilized in several states and must be passed to prevent further
abuses in the future.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

Referred to Judiciary 1-6-16

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately after the bill has become law.

2017-S6259 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6259
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 11, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in  relation  to  prohibiting  courts
   from sealing agreements or records involving a public body or institu-
   tion or any public hazard or public harm

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 4-a to
 read as follows:
   § 4-A. PROHIBITION AGAINST SEALING RECORDS INVOLVING A PUBLIC BODY  OR
 INSTITUTION.  1.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL A COURT APPROVE SEALING A
 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WHICH INVOLVES A PUBLIC BODY  OR  INSTITUTION.  ANY
 PORTION  OF AN AGREEMENT OR CONTRACT ENTERED INTO BY A PUBLIC BODY WHICH
 HAS THE PURPOSE OR EFFECT OF CONCEALING A PUBLIC HAZARD, ANY INFORMATION
 CONCERNING A PUBLIC HAZARD, OR ANY INFORMATION WHICH MAY  BE  USEFUL  TO
 MEMBERS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  IN PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM INJURY WHICH MAY
 RESULT FROM THE PUBLIC HAZARD, IS VOID, CONTRARY TO PUBLIC  POLICY,  AND
 MAY  NOT  BE ENFORCED. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, "PUBLIC HAZARD" MEANS AN
 INSTRUMENTALITY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO  ANY  DEVICE,  INSTRUMENT,
 PERSON,  PROCEDURE,  PRODUCT,  OR  A  CONDITION OF A DEVICE, INSTRUMENT,
 PERSON, PROCEDURE OR PRODUCT, THAT HAS CAUSED AND  IS  LIKELY  TO  CAUSE
 INJURY.
   2. COURT RECORDS MAY NOT BE REMOVED FROM COURT FILES EXCEPT AS PERMIT-
 TED  BY STATUTE OR RULE. NO COURT ORDER OR OPINION ISSUED IN THE ADJUDI-
 CATION OF A CASE MAY BE SEALED.  OTHER  COURT  RECORDS,  AS  DEFINED  IN
 SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS SECTION, ARE PRESUMED TO BE OPEN TO THE GENER-
 AL PUBLIC AND MAY BE SEALED ONLY UPON A SHOWING OF ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:
   A.   A  SPECIFIC,  SERIOUS  AND  SUBSTANTIAL  INTEREST  WHICH  CLEARLY
 OUTWEIGHS:
   (I) THIS PRESUMPTION OF OPENNESS;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09335-01-7

 S. 6259                             2
 
   (II) ANY PROBABLE ADVERSE EFFECT  THAT  SEALING  WILL  HAVE  UPON  THE
 GENERAL PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFETY; AND
   B.  NO LESS RESTRICTIVE MEANS THAN SEALING RECORDS WILL ADEQUATELY AND
 EFFECTIVELY PROTECT THE SPECIFIC INTEREST ASSERTED.
   3. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "COURT RECORDS" MEANS:
   A. ALL DOCUMENTS OF ANY NATURE FILED IN  CONNECTION  WITH  ANY  MATTER
 BEFORE ANY CIVIL COURT, EXCEPT:
   (I)  DOCUMENTS FILED WITH A COURT IN CAMERA, SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF
 OBTAINING A RULING ON THE DISCOVERABILITY OF SUCH DOCUMENTS;
   (II) DOCUMENTS IN COURT FILES TO WHICH ACCESS IS OTHERWISE  RESTRICTED
 BY LAW;
   (III) DOCUMENTS FILED IN AN ACTION ORIGINALLY ARISING UNDER THE FAMILY
 COURT ACT.
   B.  SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS NOT FILED OF RECORD, EXCLUDING ALL REFERENCE
 TO ANY MONETARY CONSIDERATION, THAT COULD RESTRICT DISCLOSURE OF  INFOR-
 MATION  CONCERNING  MATTERS THAT HAVE A PROBABLE ADVERSE EFFECT UPON THE
 GENERAL PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFETY, OR THE ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC OFFICE,
 OR THE OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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