State Judge Lyle Frank in Manhattan issued a preliminary injunction saying that the police department’s unfettered use of sealed records violated a 1976 state law shielding arrest and court files of criminal defendants whose cases end without a conviction. In most cases, Frank said, the law requires court approval for police to see those records, which include arrest reports, photographs and fingerprints. During the court battle that led to Monday’s ruling, the department acknowledged that more than 800 people have access to its sealed arrest records, Frank said. If a district attorney decides not to pursue certain cases as a matter of policy, those records are sealed too, Shea said. “We’re in agreement with the heart of the statute that someone should not be stigmatized for having a sealed arrest on their record,” said NYPD spokesperson Al Baker.

Source: thestar September 27, 2021 22:30 UTC