- About Us
- What We Do
- Special Projects
- Clemency
- Federal Litigation Advisory Group
- Forensic Science Project
- Immigrant Justice Practice
- Impact Litigation Project
- Access to Appeals
- Justice First Project
- Legislation Committee
- Racial Justice Project
- SORA
- Survivors Advocacy Practice
- The Plea Project
- Youth and Emergent Adult Resentencing Project
- Youthful Offender Reapplication Project
- For Clients & Families
- For the Legal Community
SORA
In New York, individuals who are released from prison after completing their sentences for sex offenses must register with the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Registration is also required for individuals placed on probation after committing what are generally considered to be less serious crimes with a sexual component. In connection with this registration process, judges hold hearings ["SORA hearings"] to assess the registrant’s risk of re-offense.
The court’s determination may subject the individual to life-long rigorous reporting obligations and disclosure of extensive personal information on the internet, including home addresses and photographs. Public exposure carries serious consequences to the registrant, including not only stigma but, at the highest risk level, restrictions on the individual’s access to housing and public services.
Courts have recognized the difficulty of making a reliable calculation that an individual has a high risk of sexual re-offending. See Doe v. Pataki, 3 F. Supp. 2d 456, 469 (S.D.N.Y. 1998). For that reason, individuals have a right to counsel at these challenging risk assessment hearings.
Beginning in 2011, the Center for Appellate Litigation began representing clients at these post-conviction hearings. In preparation for these hearings, CAL lawyers meet with clients to assess their situation. Then, at regular team meetings, CAL lawyers and litigation assistants work together to assemble information and identify any legal arguments supporting a low risk of sexual re-offense. CAL’s experience with our Re-entry Program allows us to connect clients to services that may reinforce their stability and low risk of re-offense.
CAL also represents clients on any appeals that follow these risk assessment hearings. Additionally, the law permits individuals with a previously imposed higher risk classification to ask the court to modify the risk assessment. CAL attorneys work with individuals who have successfully changed their lives to request relief from the most severe reporting requirements.
Other Special Projects
CLEMENCY PROJECT
Executive clemency is powerful tool for those who are still suffering the consequences of past convictions.
FEDERAL LITIGATION ADVISORY GROUP
Although CAL legal advocacy for its clients often ends at the Court of Appeals, it is essential that we devote meaningful attention to criminal federal court proceedings.
FORENSIC SCIENCE PROJECT
Started in 2018, FSP litigates (and supports the litigation of) claims involving forensic science.
IMMIGRANT JUSTICE PRACTICE
Our Immigrant Justice Practice (IJP) zealously pursues post-conviction relief for noncitizen clients to advance their rights and protect them from the threat of immigration incarceration and deportation as a result of their criminal conviction.
Impact Litigation Project
The Impact Litigation Project develops and implements impact-litigation strategies for changing the law by fighting for legal rulings in criminal and civil cases that bolster liberty.
IN FORMA PAUPERIS & ACCESS TO APPEALS
After an indigent individual pleads guilty or is found guilty at trial, they are all too often forgotten about and lost to the system
JUSTICE FIRST
There is no longer any debate that the criminal justice system generates wrongful convictions, cases in which innocent people are sentenced to long periods of prison for crimes they did not commit.
RACIAL JUSTICE PROJECT
The criminal legal system is a particularly stark and sobering example of the myriad ways in which racial bias and inequity infect our society.
SORA
In New York, individuals who are released from prison after completing their sentences for sex offenses must register with the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
SURVIVORS ADVOCACY PRACTICE
CAL’s Survivors Advocacy Practice represents survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking who are seeking post-conviction relief.
Youthful Offender Reapplication Project
Youthful Offender Adjudication is an immensely important disposition for young people since a "YO" adjudication is not a conviction.
Youth and Emergent Adult Resentencing Project
Haunted by the reality that young adults whom CAL represented years and sometimes decades earlier are still serving the crushing sentences imposed by the trial court and unremediated on appeal, CAL developed the YEARS project.