City Bar Continues Support for the Clean Slate Act and Calls for Passage

The New York City Bar Association continues its support for passage of the Clean Slate Act and we applaud policymakers for their steadfast efforts to deliver a bill that both the Legislature and the Governor can support. While the bill is not as expansive as we originally supported, we join the diverse coalition of groups and businesses – including 49 law firms – in supporting the amended Act. It will allow millions of New Yorkers with criminal conviction histories the opportunity to move forward, achieve financial and housing security, and become vital participants in New York’s economy. As City Bar President Susan J. Kohlmann wrote in the New York Law Journal in March, “The City Bar supports innovative legislative solutions to ameliorate those consequences that result in essentially a civil life sentence experienced by individuals with conviction histories. The Clean Slate Act is one such solution.”