- 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
Survivors Advocacy Practice
CAL’s Survivors Advocacy Practice represents survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking who are seeking post-conviction relief.
In 2019, New York passed a law, effective August 12, 2019, allowing for survivors of domestic abuse to apply for resentencing to reduced, determinate sentences. The resentencing law, C.P.L. § 440.47, enacted as part of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, recognizes that trauma can have lingering effects and lead to criminal legal system involvement.
The law’s aim is to mitigate the harsh effects of punishment for those whose crimes can be directly linked to their history of abuse.
Under this new law, those who can show that they are serving a prison sentence of more than eight years, have no predicate violent felonies, were not convicted of any enumerated exclusion offenses, and can demonstrate a connection between the abuse they suffered, and their “criminal behavior” are eligible to apply for resentencing.
The Survivors Advocacy Practice is identifying CAL’s existing clients who might benefit from this law and shepherding those who meet the eligibility criteria through the application process. In addition, because the law provides a right to counsel, CAL is working with defense providers, advocates, and other stakeholders across New York State to ensure that everyone who is eligible to petition for resentencing has access to legal help to do so.
In 2021, New York passed the START (Survivors of Trafficking Attaining Relief Together) Act. This new law allows survivors of human trafficking to apply to vacate, dismiss, and seal criminal convictions that resulted from human trafficking. Under the new law, all crimes are eligible for vacatur. In addition, all types of trafficking survivors are eligible to apply, whether they were victims of sex trafficking, labor trafficking, or both. CAL’s Survivors Advocacy Practice is identifying individuals who might be eligible to file a motion under the START Act. If you or someone you know might be eligible to apply, please get in touch with the Survivors Advocacy Practice.
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.