Lawyer Monthly - December 2021 Edition

From 2017-2020, in New York State, 2,498 cases have been sealed. In addition, another option individuals may wish to explore is a Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities. Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities Often, individuals charged with conducting background checks and determining an applicant’s eligibility for employment are not familiar with this document. While this is a sad reality, becoming familiar with this document and applying for one could be lifeline to the applicant’s livelihood and help them secure employment following a criminal conviction. As outlined by NY CourtHelp: “A Certificate of Relief from Disabilities (CRD) is a way to remove certain Collateral Consequences of a criminal conviction. Having the CRD can remove bars to applying for jobs, licenses, public housing and more. If you apply for and receive a CRD, you will have the right to apply just like someone without a conviction. But having a CRD is not a guarantee that your application will be granted. And, even if you have a CRD, you still have to say that you have a criminal conviction when you fill out a job application. “You are eligible to get a CRD if you have been convicted of any number of misdemeanours or violations, but have not been convicted of more than 1 felony (2 or more felony convictions in the same court on the same day are counted as 1 felony for the CRD). If you have been convicted of 2 or more felonies (not at the same time), or if you want to apply for a public office job, you can’t apply for a CRD, but you may be able to get a Certificate of Good Conduct. EXPERT INSIGHT 53 DEC 2021 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM “At Sentencing: You can apply for a CRD at Sentencing. This can be done by asking the Judge for a CRD. If you are going to lose an employment license or public housing because of your conviction, it is important to ask for a CRD at sentencing. “After Sentencing: You can apply any time after sentencing for a CRD, except you can’t apply while you are in a state prison. After sentencing, you apply to the court that sentenced you as long as your conviction did not result in state prison time. “After State Prison: If you served time in a state prison and have been released you apply to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to get a CRD”. While these are great resources, there are practical limitations that we cannot ignore. First, there is no guarantee that a judge will grant an application for a Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities nor an application for Sealing a Criminal Conviction. Second, another practical hurdle worth mentioning is time. Undoubtedly, it takes time to avail oneself of these tools. Nobody can afford to wait ten years to have a conviction sealed. Moreover, a Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities is not issued immediately following a conviction in most cases. Although one can apply for a Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities at the time of sentencing, it is commonplace for judges to deny this application. It is com also common for judges to require time to pass before granting such an application to ensure that the individual can demonstrate rehabilitation efforts following a conviction. In the meantime, bills must be paid and life must go on. Recognising biases surrounding criminal convictions and Employers and temporary employment agencies cannot mention anything about criminal history or background checks when they advertise jobs.