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Gov. Cuomo to pardon about 10,000 juvenile offenders convicted of non-violent crimes who have lived crime-free for over 10 years

Posted 12/23/15

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that he will use his pardon power for about 10,000 juvenile offenders convicted of non-violent crimes and who have since lived crime-free for 10 or more years. This …

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Gov. Cuomo to pardon about 10,000 juvenile offenders convicted of non-violent crimes who have lived crime-free for over 10 years

Posted

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that he will use his pardon power for about 10,000 juvenile offenders convicted of non-violent crimes and who have since lived crime-free for 10 or more years.

This action, the first of its kind in the nation, calls upon New York to join 48 other states in recognizing that 16 and 17 year old children do not belong in the adult court system.

The program will pardon about 350 people a year who were convicted as 16 and 17 year olds of misdemeanors and non-violent felonies who remain conviction-free after 10 years.

The action acknowledges that people can and do move beyond the mistakes of their youth, but the governor notes that their adult criminal records can make it hard for them to find work, get admitted to college, find a place to live, and become licensed in certain occupations.

"We spent all of these years believing that if we punished every offender enough without any relief in the future, every crime would disappear,” said Cuomo. “What we ultimately did was give a life sentence of stigmatization to kids who made a mistake and drive more people towards crime, because society told them for the rest of their lives that that's what they were – criminals. This initiative is about validating the personal commitment of people who turned their lives around and rejected crime in exchange for being a contributing member of society."

Those interested in applying for clemency should visit Cuomo’s clemency website, www.ny.gov/clemency.