S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9145
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 31, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Governmental Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing  applica-
   tion  processing  and  review requirements for reprieves, commutations
   and pardons
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "Clemency Justice Act of 2022".
   § 2. Legislative findings and intent.  The  legislature  hereby  finds
 that  families  and  communities  are  frequently  torn apart due to the
 United States' overzealous legal system and immigration system, and that
 one of the predominant tools to mitigate this issue, executive clemency,
 is grossly underused. Between 2017-2020, the governor's office  received
 6,405 clemency applications while only granting 81 pardons and 14 commu-
 tations.  The  legislature  further  finds  that the clemency process is
 convoluted, unequal, and difficult to navigate with no  way  for  appli-
 cants to check the status of their application or expedite it in case of
 an  emergency.  Meanwhile, an estimated 9,000 people, of which the over-
 whelming majority are people of color, are serving life sentences  while
 an  unprecedented  pandemic  ravages  prisons  and  detention centers. A
 simpler, more holistic approach to  granting  clemency  would  begin  to
 address  the  systemic  injustices of the immigration and criminal legal
 systems.
   § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 15-a to read
 as follows:
   § 15-A. PROCESS AND  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  CONSIDERING  APPLICATIONS  AND
 REQUESTS  FOR REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS. 1. UPON RECEIPT OF AN
 APPLICATION FOR A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON,  THE  GOVERNOR  SHALL
 PROVIDE TO THE APPLICANT:
   A. A WRITTEN NOTIFICATION THAT THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED;
   B. A RECEIPT NUMBER THAT THE APPLICANT CAN THEN USE TO CHECK ON HIS OR
 HER APPLICATION STATUS;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13533-03-1
              

 A. 9145                             2
 
   C.  GUIDELINES  FOR  SUPPLEMENTING  THE APPLICATION WITH ADDITIONAL OR
 UPDATED INFORMATION; AND
   D.  AN  ELECTRONIC  OR WRITTEN NOTIFICATION WHEN A DECISION IS MADE ON
 THE APPLICATION.
   2. A.  THE APPLICATION FOR A REPRIEVE,  COMMUTATION  OR  PARDON  SHALL
 INCLUDE A SECTION ALLOWING APPLICANTS TO DESCRIBE AN URGENT NEED FOR THE
 REPRIEVE,  COMMUTATION  OR  PARDON. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, AN
 "URGENT NEED" SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A  PENDING  DEPORTA-
 TION  PROCEEDING  OR  FINAL  DEPORTATION  ORDER,  HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS,
 HEALTH ISSUES AND THE AGING STATUS OF THE APPLICANT.
   B. APPLICANTS ARE PERMITTED  TO  UPDATE  AN  APPLICATION  TO  INDICATE
 URGENT   NEED   DUE  TO  CHANGED  CIRCUMSTANCES  FOLLOWING  THE  INITIAL
 SUBMISSION OF THE APPLICATION.
   3. THE GOVERNOR SHALL ISSUE  A  DECISION  ON  APPLICATIONS  INDICATING
 URGENT  NEED  WITHIN  NINETY  DAYS  FROM  THE  DATE  THE  APPLICATION IS
 RECEIVED.  ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS SHALL BE GRANTED OR DENIED, OR CONTIN-
 UED WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM THE DATE THAT THE APPLICATION IS RECEIVED.  ALL
 APPLICANTS SHALL RECEIVE WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF ANY SUCH  ACTION  TAKEN
 ON  THE  APPLICATION. CONTINUED APPLICATIONS SHALL BE LEFT OPEN TO ALLOW
 APPLICANTS TO SUBMIT FURTHER SUPPORTING MATERIALS  ACCORDING  TO  GUIDE-
 LINES PROVIDED TO THE APPLICANT BY THE GOVERNOR.
   §  4.  Section 17 of the executive law, as added by chapter 545 of the
 laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
   § 17. Governor to [communicate  annually  to  legislature,  reprieves,
 commutations  and  pardons. He must annually communicate to the legisla-
 ture, each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon; stating the name  of
 the  convict,  the crime of which he was convicted, the sentence and its
 date, and the date  of  the  commutation,  pardon  or  reprieve]  SUBMIT
 REPORTS  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE  ON A QUARTERLY BASIS REGARDING REPRIEVES,
 COMMUTATIONS AND PARDONS. 1. THE GOVERNOR SHALL SUBMIT A REPORT  TO  THE
 LEGISLATURE  ON  A QUARTERLY BASIS REGARDING REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND
 PARDONS. 2. SUCH REPORT SHALL INCLUDE:
   A. THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR REPRIEVES, COMMUTATIONS AND  PARDONS
 SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO SECTION FIFTEEN-A OF THIS ARTICLE; AND
   B.  IF  A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON WAS GRANTED: (I) THE DATE OF
 THE COMMUTATION, PARDON OR REPRIEVE; AND (II) THE AGE, GENDER, RACE  AND
 ETHNICITY OF THE APPROVED APPLICANT; OR
   C.  IF  A REPRIEVE, COMMUTATION OR PARDON WAS DENIED, THE AGE, GENDER,
 RACE AND ETHNICITY OF THE DENIED APPLICANT.
   3. SUCH REPORTS SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA-
 TION ABOUT APPLICANTS.
   4. THE REPORTS REQUIRED BY  THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BE  PUBLISHED  ON  A
 PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE.
   §  5.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law and shall apply to applications for reprieves,  commu-
 tations  and  pardons received before, on or after the effective date of
 this act.  Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or  repeal
 of  any  rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act
 on its effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.