NY Governor Pardons 101 New Yorkers Convicted as Minors

Wall Street Journal 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardoned 101 New Yorkers who were convicted when they were 16 or 17 years old, in what state officials said was part of an effort to remove barriers to housing and employment for those who committed crimes in their youth.

The pardons by Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, went only to those convicted of nonviolent felonies or misdemeanors who have remained conviction-free for at least 10 years, officials said. The pardons are conditional, meaning they can be withdrawn if a person is convicted.

He also pardoned five people who had been convicted as adults and commuted the sentences of seven still in prison. 

Friday’s pardons are a notable departure from past years. In 2015, the governor pardoned three people and commuted the sentences of three others, and in 2014, he pardoned two. Alphonso David, the governor’s counsel, said those pardoned who committed crimes as young people had demonstrated they had been rehabilitated. “If you made a mistake at 16 or 17 you shouldn’t be affected by that mistake at 40 years old,” he said.

The state plans to continue issuing such pardons in the coming years, Mr. David said. State officials estimate 10,000 people fit the eligibility for such pardons. This year, about 260 applied, Mr. David said.

Ruthie Epstein, deputy advocacy director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, praised Friday’s pardons but said they are a stopgap measure for what she views as the state’s harsh sentencing laws. New York is one of only two states nationwide that treats 16- and 17-year-old offenders as adults, she said.

“It doesn’t rectify the underlying injustice that got them in prison in the first place,” Ms. Epstein said.

One of those whose sentence was commuted was Judith Clark, 67 years old, a political activist who was a member of the Weather Underground. She was convicted in 1983 for driving the getaway vehicle in a 1981 Brink’s armored car robbery, in Nanuet, N.Y., in which two police offers and a security guard were killed. Ms. Clark has served 35 years of a 75 years-to-life sentence, state officials said. Friday’s commutation makes her eligible to appear before the state parole board.

State officials said Ms. Clark had “made exceptional strides in self-development” while in prison. They said she had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, founded an HIV/AIDS education program and trained service dogs as part of the Puppies Behind Bars program.

Anthony Papa, who was pardoned Friday, was convicted of drug charges in 1985. While he has been out of prison since 1997, he said he views the pardon as a vindication. It also removes some barriers that come with a criminal record, he said.

“Every time I went for an apartment I was always terrified they would find out and throw me in the street,” said Mr. Papa, 62 years old, an author and artist who works at advocacy-group the Drug Policy Alliance.