NY State Senate Bill 2025-S6001

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes 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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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 04, 2025	referred to codes

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7352
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §460.20, CP L

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the "fair court of appeals access act" to require applications for leave to appeal to the court of appeals to be made to the full court.

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6001

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to requiring
applications for leave to appeal to the court of appeals to be made to
the full court

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To amend the procedures governing applications for leave to appeal to
the New York Court of Appeals.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill names it the Fair Court of Appeals Access Act.

Section two of this bill amends Section 460.20 of the Criminal Procedure
Law to require that a certificate granting leave to appeal to the Court
of Appeals be made to, and decided by, the full Court of Appeals.
Following the full court's consideration, a certificate may be issued

upon the approval of two judges.

Section three of this bill sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

For an appeal to be taken to the New York Court of Appeals from an order
of an intermediate appellate court, the appellant must, under Section
460.92 of the Criminal Procedure Law, seek permission from either the
Court of Appeals or a justice of the Appellate Division.  When permis-
sion is sought from the Court of Appeals, the Court randomly assigns the
application to a single judge, who has the power to decide, in their
discretion, whether to grant or deny leave. A denial of an application
for leave to appeal is final.

This current procedure prevents the Court from applying its collective
wisdom to a leave application. Unlike our civil-leave procedure, which
mandates that an application for leave to appeal in a civil case be
submitted to a full court's vote, the criminal-leave process takes the
collective knowledge and experience of seven judges and unreasonably
reduces it to the knowledge and experience of one. As one former Judge
of our high court, Judge Eugene F. Pigott, Jr., has recently commented,
"To me, one person making these decisions is just crazy."

The stakes are substantial: a leave application is often a convicted
individual's last chance to challenge a life-altering criminal
conviction and sentence or the prosecution's last chance to correct an
erroneous reversal of a conviction or dismissal of an indictment.  With
judges granting leave at widely varying rates, the criminal leave appli-
cation process creates an inequitable "lottery" system. For instance, as
of December 31, 2023, one sitting Court of Appeals judge had approved
9.9% of criminal appeal requests assigned to them since joining the
court, while another judge had granted only 1.8%. Consequently, if a
leave application is assigned to a judge who grants leave at the rate of
1 or 2%, there is, realistically, virtually no chance that the Court of
Appeals will review the case.

Important organizations and committees have long called for the aboli-
tion of the single-judge system. The MacCrate Commission, commissioned
by the Court of Appeals itself to study reforms to the New York appel-
late system in the 1980s, recommended abolition of this system and
called for the adoption of a full-court motion procedure, like the one
that governs civil appeals in our high court. The New York State Bar
Association also supports this amendment.

New York is an extreme outlier as one of only four states to dole out
justice in this arbitrary manner. This bill would align New York with
the 46 other states that require full courts to decide appellate appli-
cations while ensuring an applicant's chances of accessing our state's
highest court do not come down to the luck of the draw.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any applica-
tion for leave to appeal from an intermediate appellate court order
entered on, or after, the effective date of this act.

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6001
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 4, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the criminal procedure law, in relation to requiring
   applications for leave to appeal to the court of appeals to be made to
   the full court

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "fair court
 of appeals access act".
   §  2.  Section  460.20 of the criminal procedure law, subdivision 5 as
 added by chapter 699 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
 § 460.20  Certificate granting leave to appeal to court of appeals.
   1.  A certificate granting leave to appeal to  the  court  of  appeals
 from  an  order  of  an  intermediate  appellate court is an order of [a
 judge] THE COURT OF APPEALS granting such permission and certifying that
 the case involves a question of law which ought to be  reviewed  by  the
 court of appeals.
   2.    Such  certificate may be issued [by the following judges] in the
 indicated situations:
   (a)  Where the appeal sought is from an order of the  appellate  divi-
 sion,  the  certificate  may  be issued by (i) [a judge of] the court of
 appeals, UPON THE APPROVAL OF TWO JUDGES OF SUCH COURT  AFTER  THE  FULL
 COURT'S  CONSIDERATION OF THE MOTION FOR A CERTIFICATE GRANTING LEAVE TO
 APPEAL or (ii) a justice of the appellate  division  of  the  department
 which entered the order sought to be appealed.
   (b)    Where  the  appeal  sought  is from an order of an intermediate
 appellate court other than the appellate division, the  certificate  may
 be issued only by [a judge of] the court of appeals.
   3.   An application for such a certificate must be made in the follow-
 ing manner:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10432-01-5
 S. 6001                             2

 
   (a)  An application to a justice of the  appellate  division  must  be
 made upon reasonable notice to the respondent;
   (b)    An application seeking such a certificate from [a judge of] the
 court of appeals must be made [to the  chief  judge  of  such  court  by
 submission  thereof,  either]  in  writing  [or first orally and then in
 writing,] to the clerk of the court of appeals.  [The chief  judge  must
 then  designate a judge of such court to determine the application.] The
 clerk must then notify the  respondent  of  the  application  [and  must
 inform both parties of such designation].
   (C)  THE  COURT  OF  APPEALS  SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CREATE RULES
 GOVERNING APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL IN CRIMINAL  CASES  THAT  ARE
 NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THIS SECTION.
   4.    A  justice of the appellate division to whom such an application
 has been made[, or a judge of the court of appeals designated to  deter-
 mine  such  an  application,] may in [his] THEIR discretion determine it
 upon such papers as [he] THEY may request the parties to submit, or upon
 oral argument, or upon both.
   5.   [Every judge] THE COURT  OF  APPEALS  or  AN  APPELLATE  DIVISION
 justice acting pursuant to this section shall file with the clerk of the
 court of appeals, immediately upon issuance, a copy of every certificate
 granting or denying leave to appeal.
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
 application for leave to appeal from  an  intermediate  appellate  court
 order entered on, or after, the effective date of this act.

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Senate Bill S6001

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Actions

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Andrew Gounardes

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Actions

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S6001 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments