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The Legal Aid Society can assist with wrongful convictions, applications for commutation and pardon, and the sealing of past criminal records.
The Wrongful Conviction Unit was created to address the population of prisoners who have exhausted all avenues of relief and are still fighting for their freedom and to clear their names of crimes they did not commit.
The Criminal Appeals Bureau prepares commutation applications for eligible clients — individuals with excellent institutional records who have served more than half of their minimum term and are more than a year away from parole eligibility. CAB also prepares pardon applications for clients who have rehabilitated themselves but are facing deportation.
The Case Closed Project helps people clear their criminal records. If you have a maximum of two convictions (one of which is a felony) that are more than 10 years old, you may be eligible to apply for sealing and representation in your application. The Project can also tell you if you are eligible for the many other types of record relief that can help to end the perpetual punishment of a conviction record.
The Exploitation Intervention Project works with trafficking survivors to help them vacate criminal convictions related to their trafficking and seal the records of those arrests. If you were convicted of a criminal offense as a result of having been sex or labor trafficked, you may be eligible to have your record sealed.
Wrongful Convictions If you are innocent and have exhausted all appeals for a conviction in New York City, write to The Wrongful Conviction Unit and request our questionnaire to be considered for representation:
The Wrongful Conviction Unit c/o The Legal Aid Society 199 Water Street New York, NY 10038
Or email: wcu@legal-aid.org
Clemency Individuals who believe they qualify for clemency should apply online with the Governor’s Office. The site contains instructions and forms for applying for commutations and pardons.
Record Sealing To find out if you are eligible to have a criminal record sealed call 212-298-3120 or email CaseClosed@legal-aid.org.
To find out if The Exploitation Intervention Project is able to assist you in having your trafficking-related convictions vacated and the records sealed, contact Leigh Latimer at 646-385-5025 or lelatimer@legal-aid.org.
Having a criminal record can prevent you from accessing jobs, licensing, housing and educational opportunities long after you have completed your sentence. Getting your record sealed, vacated or expunged can help to lift some of those barriers so that you can fully participate in your community and support yourself and your family. These are the Current Record Clearance Laws in New York State.
Marijuana Legalization in New York is effective as of March 31, 2021. This document answers many of the questions you may have about the new law.
Under New York’s 2021 legalization law, several old and new penal law marijuana convictions will be automatically expunged. You will get this benefit if you were convicted of possessing up to 16 oz or selling up to 25 grams.
There is nothing that you need to do to make this happen. It is free and automatic.
The state has two years to implement the expungement, BUT if you have an expungeable PL 221 offense it is already being suppressed and it should NOT show up on a background check.
On February 2, 2021, the New York legislature repealed the loitering for the purposes of prostitution statute, commonly called the “Walking While Trans Ban.” This means loitering for the purposes of prostitution is no longer a criminal offense in New York, and the records of past convictions should have been sealed automatically.
Under a recent New York State law (CPL § 160.59), some people may be able to get their criminal convictions sealed. Here’s what you should know about the new sealing law and the sealing process.
Under a recent New York State law (CPL § 160.59), some people may be able to get their criminal convictions sealed. Here’s what you should know after your conviction has been sealed.
In New York, most employers and agencies can only deny you a job or license because of your criminal conviction if there’s a direct connection between the work and the offense or if giving you the job or license would involve an unreasonable risk to people or property. Here’s what you should know to prevent wrongful discrimination.
The justice system can be overwhelming. Get familiar with some legal terms and acronyms you might hear like appeal, adjournment, petition, jurisdiction, deposition, and affidavit.