The collateral consequences of a criminal or juvenile delinquency record significantly affects the defendant or respondent for the rest of his or her life. An unsealed or unexpunged court file involving even a minor offense may preclude or impede employment possibilities, governmental benefits and professional or recreational licenses. (Expungement entails the destruction of records, while sealing maintains the records but generally precludes access.) The consequences affect the young disproportionally. A finding that an immature adolescent has committed a misdemeanor, a non-criminal status offense, or a non-violent felony establishes a harmful record which persists throughout adulthood.

In recent years the New York Legislature has enacted criminal procedure law measures to strengthen confidentiality and to seal and expunge many records, thereby barring or limiting accessibility to less egregious criminal findings. Astonishingly, the measures have excluded the young. Today, Family Court juvenile delinquency records (crimes committed by children) and status offense records (non-criminal youthful behavior, such as truancy) are far more open and available than similar adult criminal files.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]