Senate Bill S6294

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6294

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring in
person hearings for traffic infractions

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To ensure that any and all hearings conducted in any Traffic Violation's
Bureau in New York City be held in-person, in the physical location of a
hearing office, with all necessary parties and witnesses present within
the same room, but for the informed consent of the accused or their
counsel.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the vehicle and traffic law by creating a new subdivi-
sion that enshrines the right of any person that has received a moving
violation summons in the five boroughs of New York City to appear
in-person in a physical hearing office with all necessary parties pres-
              

ent in the same room for the purpose of adjudicating or adjourning the
summons.

Section two is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Beginning in July 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Department of Motor Vehicles began to move all contested traffic
violation hearings within its jurisdiction to an entirely remote virtual
system. The Department of Motor Vehicles continues to forbid in-person
hearings when the accused seek to adjourn their cases, and now maintains
that their own rules and regulations do not necessitate in-person
proceedings. At present, the Department of Motor Vehicles can, at any
moment, move all hearings back to a completely virtual setting.

Online hearings not only prevent a person from meaningfully confronting
their accuser--a right enshrined in the Sixth Amendment of the United
States Constitution and Article I, Section 1 of the New York State
Constitution--but also frustrate the ability to evaluate best evidence
and ascertain a witness's truthfulness. An appearance in traffic court
is oftentimes a person's first, and perhaps only, direct interaction
with the American courts. Even the simple ability to observe how a hear-
ing is conducted serves as a necessary lifeline.  Internet hearings
especially prejudice recipients of traffic tickets in New York City, who
are mostly low-income, lacking in technological skills, access to the
Internet, and/or English language fluency.

This bill simply enshrines rights that are normally non-negotiable with-
in the American judicial system: open, fair, public and in-person adju-
dication.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill is effective thirty days after having become law.