As a new legislative session begins, The Legal Aid Society is calling on lawmakers in Albany to pass a comprehensive set of bills that will improve the lives of clients and all New Yorkers.

Priorities for the Civil Practice include a focus on expanding housing protections and preventing homelessness; streamlining access to health and other public assistance benefits; improving labor practices; and ending New York State’s participation in the immigration detention business.

Read the full list of Civil priorities here.

The Criminal Defense Practice, together with New York City’s other defender organizations, is urging lawmakers to keep people out of dangerous jails and prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their priorities include a slate of criminal justice reforms that invest in communities; move away from punitive approaches to criminal justice; ensure protections for immigrants and minors; and mitigate over-policing.

Read the full list of Criminal Defense priorities here.

The Juvenile Rights Practice is focused on proposals that would reduce the racist legacy of both the child welfare system and juvenile legal systems and make them more just.  Priorities include the right to counsel and due process; ending the school to prison pipeline; ensuring proper funding and benefits for children and families navigating the foster care system; and reforming the State Central Register to reduce abuse.

Read the full list of Juvenile Rights priorities here.

Legal Aid is also calling on lawmakers to defend the critical legislative reforms won over the past years such as bail, discovery, and Raise the Age legislation.