Bill Text: NY S01447 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to assisting and protecting victims of domestic violence, child abuse and child neglect.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-17 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S01447 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-S01447-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1447--A 2015-2016 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 12, 2015 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families -- recommitted to the Committee on Children and Families in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the social services law, the criminal procedure law and the civil practice law and rules, in relation to assisting and protecting victims of domestic violence, child abuse and child neglect The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. Presently, a person convicted of 2 harassment, which is only a violation under the penal law, enjoys an 3 automatic seal on his or her criminal record. Harassment often includes 4 matters of domestic violence. In subsequent proceedings between the 5 victim of the violence and the convicted aggressor, the record of the 6 criminal court, the police arrest and investigation, and the aggressor's 7 conviction, admissions or orders of protection in the criminal matter 8 are not available to the victim to prove that the domestic violence 9 occurred; making it difficult for the victim to protect himself or 10 herself against further aggression or obtain justice in family court or 11 other civil proceedings. This act will allow the victim or victim's 12 representative to obtain a judicial subpoena releasing such record to 13 the family or supreme court. 14 Likewise, where an investigation by child protective services "indi- 15 cates" the abuse or neglect of a child, the state law allows the subject 16 of the report the ability to amend the report to "unfounded" without any 17 notice or opportunity to object to the amendment being given to the 18 victim of the abuse or neglect. As a result, if amended, even by 19 default, the victim or co-parent cannot access the record of the inves- 20 tigation in subsequent family or supreme court proceedings. Further, 21 the person previously "indicated" can use the amended report as a weapon EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00955-02-6
