May 8, 2025
The New York State Legislature passed their budget on Wednesday. It’s a $15 billion dollar increase from what it was last year. Governor Kathy Hochul says, this year’s budget also has rebate checks for some taxpayers and child tax credits. The governor also notes the changes to the criminal justice laws:
- Require courts to consider the prosecutor’s efforts as a whole and whether any missing material prejudiced the defense, preventing cases from being thrown out over insignificant mistakes;
- Narrow the scope of the items that must be disclosed and cut out the need to seek certain materials that are irrelevant to the charges against the defendant, allowing prosecutors to better focus on gathering the evidence that really matters;
- Allow prosecutors to move the case forward after they have exercised good faith and due diligence to obtain discoverable material and disclosed everything they have actually obtained, even if there are items they are waiting on;
- Protect against manipulation of the speedy trial clock, requiring defense attorneys to bring challenges early in the case and confer with prosecutors to resolve issues and move cases forward quickly; and
- Streamline protections for sensitive witness information, both to protect witnesses and to facilitate a culture of witnesses feeling empowered to come forward.
