BILL NUMBER: S4330A
SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law and the penal law, in
relation to granting certain individuals youthful offender status; to
add a new category of individuals eligible for young adult offender
status; and to repeal certain provisions of the criminal procedure law
relating thereto
 
PURPOSE:
To update New York's criminal law to reflect twenty-first-century under-
standing of the adolescent brain and criminal culpability, by creating a
new Young Adult Offender status to apply to those who are 19 to 25 years
old at the time of the alleged offense, as well as a new First Offender
status for those 22 or older at the time of the alleged offense.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends section 720.10 of the Criminal Procedure
Law as added by chapter 981 of the laws of 1971 which defines key terms
such as, "Youth", "Eligible Youth", "Youthful offender finding", "Youth-
ful offender sentence", "Youthful offender adjudication" along with an
exemption highlighting the best course of action when a "youth" has been
convicted of specific criminal acts.
Section 2 repeals subdivision 3 of section 720.15 of the Criminal Proce-
dure Law.
Section 3 amends subdivision 1 of section 720.20 of the Criminal Proce-
dure Law to say that once someone is convicted as an eligible youth the
court must order a presentence investigation to determine whether or not
they qualify to be considered an "youthful offender". Considerations
are that the charge is a misdemeanor offense, a class D or E felony, or
a class C felony. Anything other than that will fail the consideration
to be considered a "youthful offender".
Section 4 of the bill amends section 720.35, of the Criminal Procedure
Law, it also highlights that a youthful offender adjudication is not a
judgment of a crime for any other purpose than to highlight it during a
custody battle or supervision. The notification of this adjudication
will be kept private to all parties unless it is requested by the desig-
nated educational official who oversees the person at a private elemen-
tary or secondary school. At that point, it will be left to the
discretion of the official to use this information to help make an
educative plan for the child.
Section 5 of the bill amends subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subdi-
vision 3 of section 220.30, as amended by Criminal Procedure Law chapter
410 of the laws of 1979, which does not allow for a plea of guilty to a
part or all aspects of the charge being presented. If the felony that is
being charged is a class A-I felony unless they qualify as an "eligible
youth"
Section 6 of the bill amends subdivision 3 of section 420.30 of the
Criminal Procedure Law, which allows for an "eligible youth" not to be
required to pay the fees charged when needing to complete the sex offen-
der registration fee, DNA Databank fee, or crime victim assistance fee.
Section 7 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of section 420.35 of the
Criminal Procedure Law which allows an "eligible youth" not to be
required to pay the fees charged when needing to complete the sex offen-
der registration fee, DNA Databank fee, or crime victim assistance fee.
In any other situation, all of these fees will not be allowed to be
waived under any condition unless otherwise stated.
Section 8 of the bill amends the Criminal Procedure Law by adding arti-
cle 721 which defines what young adult status procedure is, how it is
defined, and how it can be adjudicated.
Section 9 of the bill amends the Criminal Procedure Law by adding a new
section 440.49 that focuses on defining what an eligible youth is, and
the special stipulations that would grant a convicted person a "young
adult" status. It also allows the District Attorney the right to call
into question the status that was granted by the committee.
Section 10 of the bill amends Criminal Procedure al Law section 450.10
by adding a new subdivision 6 that allows for the denial of a motion to
grant a "youthful offender" status.
Section 11 of the bill amends PL section 60.00, subdivision 2 by adding
a new subdivision 3 that states it is only applicable to a juvenile
offender or someone who has been granted a "youthful offender" status.
Section 12 of the bill amends Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 60.02 of
the penal law by adding a new subdivision 3 that states if someone is
granted a "young adult" sentence" then the punishment must be swapped as
long as it is not a felony. If the crime is considered to be a misdemea-
nor then the maximum sentence should 'not be bigger than 6 months.
Section 13 amends subdivision 4 of section 80.00 of the penal law with
the use of chapter 338 of the laws of 1989 that a corporation is ineli-
gible to qualify for a "young adult" status.
Section 14 amends subdivision 6 of section 80.05 of the penal law to
restrict a corporation by making them ineligible to qualify for a "young
adult" status.
Section 15 amends subdivision 4 of section 340.40 of the criminal proce-
dure law with the use of chapter 806 of the laws of 2021 that states
that under an "eligible youth" status any trial will automatically be a
jury trial unless at the specific request of the person being charged.
As such it will become a single-judge trial.
Section 16 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Modern neuroscience research shows that an adolescent's brain is not
fully developed until their mid-twenties. As the United States Supreme
Court recognized in Roper v. Simmons, 54.3 U.S. 551 (2005), adolescents
have diminished culpability for their actions as compared to adults.
"Youth are less mature and have an underdeveloped sense of responsibil-
ity; they are more vulnerable to outside pressures, including peer pres-
sure, and other negative influences; and their characters are less well
formed and still developing." Id. at 569-570. Youthful offender (Y0)
status recognizes the differences in legal culpability between adoles-
cents and adults and provides a mechanism for different treatment of
young offenders when appropriate. Under the existing YO statute, youth
benefit from reduced sentencing, including alternatives to incarceration
and, because a YO adjudication is sealed to the public, the young person
is protected from devastating collateral consequences associated with a
permanent criminal record, including deportation, eligibility for
student loans, and employment and housing discrimination. All of these
protections are appropriate given the age of the offender. Studies
reviewed and summarized by the National Conference of St ate Legisla-
tures support a conclusion that the neurobiological, psychosocial, and
developmental differences between juveniles and adults continue into the
late teens and early twenties. A longitudinal study conducted by the
chief of Brain Imaging in the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National
Institute of Mental Health concluded that the average human brain is not
fully developed until age 25; critically, the frontal lobe, which is
responsible for functions such as advanced cognition, controlling
impulses and judging consequences, continues to develop into the early
twenties. The MacArthur Foundation has conducted psychosocial and
developmental research that corroborates the neurobiological findings.
New York must update its criminal procedure laws to reflect twenty-
first-century understanding of the adolescent brain and criminal culpa-
bility. This bill provides judges the discretion to grant the sealing
and sentencing protections of youthful offender status for youth until
their 26th birthday. The bill is also retroactive, in recognition of the
enormous harm that New York State has inflicted on youth - and almost
exclusively only youth of color - over the past forty years by saddling
youth with a permanent criminal record that stays with them their entire
life.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S3426 of 2023-24: Referred to Codes.
S5749A of 2021-22: Referred to Codes.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to any criminal
case pending on such effective date.

Statutes affected:
S4330: 720.15 criminal procedure law, 720.15(3) criminal procedure law, 720.20 criminal procedure law, 720.20(1) criminal procedure law, 220.30 criminal procedure law, 220.30(3) criminal procedure law, 420.30 criminal procedure law, 420.30(3) criminal procedure law, 420.35 criminal procedure law, 420.35(2) criminal procedure law, 450.10 criminal procedure law, 60.00 penal law, 60.00(2) penal law, 80.00 penal law, 80.00(4) penal law, 721.10 criminal procedure law, 340.40 criminal procedure law, 340.40(4) criminal procedure law
S4330A: 220.30 criminal procedure law, 220.30(3) criminal procedure law, 420.30 criminal procedure law, 420.30(3) criminal procedure law, 420.35 criminal procedure law, 420.35(2) criminal procedure law, 450.10 criminal procedure law, 80.00 penal law, 80.00(4) penal law, 721.10 criminal procedure law, 340.40 criminal procedure law, 340.40(4) criminal procedure law