{"id":207139,"date":"2026-04-23T12:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/207139\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:21:07","slug":"new-yorks-self-induced-repeat-offender-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/207139\/","title":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s Self-Induced Repeat Offender Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, a machete-wielding maniac attacked three straphangers at New York City\u2019s Grand Central Station. The assailant, the New York Post\u00a0reports<\/a>, had a rap sheet featuring more than a dozen arrests, including\u00a0one<\/a> for menacing with a sharp object.<\/p>\n

Responding officers shot and killed the alleged perpetrator. But straphangers were once again<\/a> left to ask: Why does the city keep releasing such obvious hard cases?<\/p>\n

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The answer might have something to do with what the justice system can legally divulge about criminal histories. Consider the difference between the New York Post\u2019s reporting on Machete Man\u2019s criminal history and what NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch was able to tell reporters<\/a>: the alleged attacker had \u201cthree unsealed\u00a0prior arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NYPD is subject to a court order<\/a>\u00a0prohibiting the use and disclosure of sealed arrest histories<\/a>. So the public learned about the attacker\u2019s more extensive criminal history only because a source was willing to divulge it to the Post.<\/p>\n

Information about criminal backgrounds is crucial for voters who want to hold the system accountable for repeatedly releasing dangerous criminals onto the streets. It\u2019s also useful for assessing the risk that a given defendant poses to the community. Indeed, criminal history\u2014including prior arrests\u2014is a key predictor<\/a> of future offending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The practice of sealing prior arrests has grown more common over the last several years. This is partly a result of the 2023 Clean Slate Act, which requires<\/a> sealing certain criminal histories if the offender has remained crime-free for a specified timespan, depending on the severity of the crime. But it is also the case that in New York State, any case that ends with a disposition favorable to the defendant\u2014a finding of \u201cnot guilty,\u201d but also a dismissal, even on technical grounds\u2014is sealed. Such dispositions have become much more likely since the enactment of the state\u2019s discovery reform<\/a>\u00a0in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since criminal history predicts future offending, we should want prosecutors and judges to have a complete picture of it. Sealing prior arrests makes this harder. According to a former New York City assistant district attorney who spoke to City Journal\u00a0on condition of anonymity, \u201cseldom do prosecutors acquire information regarding an alleged perpetrator\u2019s sealed arrest records at the post-arrest stage.\u201d With a few exceptions, \u201csuch records are off limits\u201d without a judicial order.<\/p>\n

Jim Quinn, a former executive district attorney in the Queens district attorney\u2019s office, agreed with this assessment, saying that New York\u2019s rules can lead to repeat offenders being treated as first-timers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not talking about cases that were sealed because of innocence,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cMost of these cases were sealed because a defendant completed a treatment program or was given a break, or because the DA could not complete their discovery obligation on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sealing prior arrests is nonetheless a priority for criminal-justice reformers. They seem to believe<\/a> that offenders will have an easier time securing employment if their criminal histories are hidden from public view.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s debatable. But regardless, it\u2019s time for policymakers to consider a middle-ground position that doesn\u2019t force prosecutors and judges tasked with keeping the public safe to make decisions without all the facts.\u00a0New York State should revise its clean slate and other record-related rules, allowing police, prosecutors, and judges to access rap sheets while still keeping them hidden from civilian employers.<\/p>\n

Lady Justice\u2019s blindfold is a metaphor for the West\u2019s commitment to equality under the law. Making our prosecutors and police blind, however, is guaranteed to produce injustice.<\/p>\n

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City Journal is a publication of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (MI), a leading free-market think tank. Are you interested in supporting the magazine? As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, donations in support of MI and City Journal are fully tax-deductible as provided by law (EIN #13-2912529).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, a machete-wielding maniac attacked three straphangers at New York City\u2019s Grand Central Station. The assailant,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-207139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}