Senate Bill S8337

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8337

SPONSOR: BORRELLO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing the maximum
sentence of imprisonment for certain misdemeanors to one year; and to
repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill increases the maximum penalty for class A misdemeanors to one
year.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 repeals subdivision 1-a of section 70.15 of the penal law,
which specified that the maximum sentence for almost all class A misde-
meanors would be 364 days.

Section 2 amends section 70.15 of the penal law to specify that the
maximum sentence for a class A misdemeanor shall be one year.
              

Section 3 provides that the act shall take effective January 1st of the
year following enactment.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Typically, a judge imposes the maximum sentence for a class A misdemea-
nor when the criminal activity was particularly egregious or when the
criminal plead guilty to a misdemeanor as part of a plea bargain follow-
ing a more serious felony charge. Thus, the imposition of a maximum
sentence typically reflects the most serious criminal activity.

For nearly 200 years, the maximum sentence for a class A misdemeanor in
New York State was one year of imprisonment. In 2019, however, the maxi-
mum sentence for a class A misdemeanor was reduced to 364 days.  This
reduction was made specifically to protect immigrants from facing auto-
matic deportation, which otherwise occurs upon a criminal sentence of a
year or more in prison. This statutory change reflected a horrific
public policy of protecting these criminal immigrants from being
deported, thereby enabling these criminals to remain in New York State.
Unfortunately, the data is overwhelming that a significant percentage of
convicted criminals will commit another crime against innocent victims.
Thus, the reduction is the maximum sentence resulted in more criminals
on the streets.  of New York and a higher likelihood of more criminal
activity, more dangerous neighborhoods, and more innocent victims.  This
legislation restores the one-year maximum sentence for class A misdemea-
nors.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The legislation would take effective January 1st after its adoption.