Albany, New York Criminal Law Blog

New York legislators recently passed the Juvenile Justice Reform Agenda, which marks a significant step toward some much-needed improvements to the state's juvenile prison system. Critics have long maintained that New York's youth detention system is broken almost beyond repair, outdated and ill-equipped to treat the approximately 700 young offenders presently held in 26 camps and prisons throughout the state. Most of the bill's measures take effect immediately.

The legislation is part of an effort by New York officials to respond to a three-year federal investigation that found such widespread abuses and failings that federal authorities threatened a takeover of the entire system. The new bill is designed to prevent inappropriate detention placement by providing reimbursement to communities to encourage them to find alternatives to detention and institutional placement programs, and by setting up a pilot program to provide job and vocational skills.

Gun control opponents were heartened by the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment does indeed confer an individual right to bear arms. The decision did not prohibit reasonable regulation of gun ownership, however, and the New York State Legislature is attempting to pass a law requiring all new semiautomatic pistols sold in the state to be microstamped, beginning in 2012.

Microstamping is a revolutionary technology that uses a laser to make marks on a gun's firing pin and other surfaces, allowing authorities to easily identify the weapon's make, model and serial number. Even more importantly, the information from the microstamp is imprinted on the bullet casing each time the weapon is fired. Since guns used in crimes are rarely left behind at the scene, the information printed on bullet casings recovered from crime scenes would give law enforcement a valuable new tool for apprehending violent criminals.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has made child pornography-related cases one of its top priorities, bringing a record number of charges last year. Many of these cases involved possession of pornographic materials. Despite the increase in charges, more and more federal judges are considering non-traditional factors in giving leniency to some defendants convicted of these crimes.

The downward departures from sentencing guidelines primarily affect those whose crimes involved the viewing or possession of child pornography, not those who have been convicted of actively molesting or exploiting a minor. Some federal judges have also stated that the current recommended sentences unfairly link sexual predators to those who view child pornography.

The difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, scientifically, is just about zero. At one point, lawmakers railed against crack cocaine as more addictive and more dangerous, but those days are gone. The studies that supported this idea have been disproven or dismissed. New, accurate, evaluations of the two forms of cocaine have shown that they are essentially equal in all properties.

But if that's the case, then why does the possession of crack cocaine still net much higher conviction rates and far greater prison sentences? Under current federal law, the sentencing discrepancy between crack cocaine and powder cocaine is 100-to-1.