BILL NUMBER: S8411
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the denial of
access to public records that relate to civil investigations; to amend
the executive law, in relation to requiring the superintendent of state
police to provide the department of law with direct, real-time access to
the criminal gun clearinghouse; to amend the executive law and the civil
rights law, relating to the enforcement powers of the attorney general;
to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the attorney
general to enforce the provisions of the education law against covered
entities who engage in discrimination and the powers and duties of state
university trustees; and to amend the public health law, in relation to
the compromise of certain claims the state may have
 
PURPOSE:
To optimize the Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) civil litigation
capacity by shoring up and codifying its existing authority
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends a provision of the Public Officer's Law that exempts
from public disclosure law enforcement records that would reveal the
identity of a confidential informant or reveal non-routine investigative
techniques in a criminal investigation, to make it apply equally to
civil investigations.
Section two clarifies that the superintendent of the state police shall
provide the OAG with access to the criminal gun clearing house.
Section three amends the executive law to authorize the Attorney Gener-
al, in cases of repeated or otherwise persistent discrimination, to move
expeditiously by investigating violations and filing suit in court.
Section four amends the civil rights law to provide for explicit
enforcement authority by the Attorney General.
Section five amends the executive law to provide the Attorney General
with a cause of action permitting a lawsuit against a law enforcement
agency if there is reasonable cause to believe that agency or its
employees have engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that has
deprived persons of their rights, privileges, or immunities under New
York or federal law.
Section six amends the Education Law to clarify the OAG 's authority to
address repeated or persistent discrimination in public elementary and
secondary schools, school districts, and educational entities.
Sections seven, eight, and nine, amend the Education Law and Public
Health Law in relation to the compromise or waiver of certain claims.
Section ten establishes a severability clause.
Section eleven establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The two primary roles of the New York State Attorney General ("NYAG")
are the state's Chief Legal Counsel who defends the state's laws and its
interests; and the People's Lawyer, charged with zealously protecting
the citizens of New York against any entity that encroaches on their
rights. In New York, the specific powers and duties of the Attorney
General are neither enshrined in the state constitution, nor dependent
on common law precedenf Instead, a series of statutes lay out the NYAG's
role.
While the Attorney General's Office has a wide array of powers and
responsibilities in areas from regulating charities to defending state
laws from constitutional challenges, as the state's top law enforcement
official, the AG has an extensive history of investigating and seeking
to rectify systemic civil rights violations on the local level from
police departments to schools to polling places. In the last quarter
century, the OAG has also taken on an increasingly significant role in
preventing gun trafficking and other sources of firearm violence. Over
the years, each of these roles has been solidified and expanded through
extensive legislative activity, cementing the NYAG's civil enforcement
authority and responsibilities in these areas of public concern.
This legislation, the Civil Litigation Efficacy Omnibus ("CLEO"), is
necessary to ensure the efficient use of NYAG resources by better codi-
fying the office's existing authority and ensuring that its long-stand-
ing investigative and enforcement tools are enforceable in the modern
age.
Two interrelated trends have emerged in recent years that have made this
legislation necessary. First, local entities have repeatedly challenged
NYAG's investigative authority despite ultimate outcomes invariably
favoring the NYAG's position. Secondly, the impact of this trend has
been exacerbated exponentially by the fact that New York's civil courts
are increasingly overburdened and backlogged. As a result, when the NYAG
must seek the court's assistance to compel legal compliance from recal-
citrant subjects, even those asserting baseless arguments or no argu-
ments at all to justify their stonewalling, proceedings can be delayed
considerably.
These trends have highlighted shortcomings in current law. For example,
when local government entities repeatedly raise jurisdictional arguments
that have already been settled by caselaw, the NYAG and the courts must
waste time and resources relitigating settled matters. Even if a busy
court hears a matter and finds that a party acted willfully and unrea-
sonably in defying the NYAG's lawful requests, the court has limited
options. These shortcomings in current law can have the unfortunate
effect of rewarding unreasonable noncompliance.
By passing CLEO and enacting it into law, New York can ensure that the
Attorney General has the tools he or she needs to follow through on the
legislature's statutory priorities and protect and defend the people of
this state through civil enforcement. Prior Legislative History: New
Bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Potential savings and additional revenue to the state through the more
efficient use of NYAG resources.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S8411: 230 executive law, 230(4) executive law, 297 executive law, 40-c civil rights law, 75 executive law, 355 education law, 355(10) education law, 2602 public health law, 2602(3) public health law, 406 public health law, 406(3) public health law