December 2006 (Downloadable PDF file)

The Legal Project

Pro Bono Corner
Lisa A. Frisch, Executive Director

Happy Holidays to you all! We’ve had an interesting Fall here at The Legal Project, with an incredible 11th Annual Pro Bono Reception at the NYS Museum with our largest turnout ever and a matching grant that we announced at the Reception of $50,000 which will be a huge help to us. A special Domestic Violence Appeal for this match has gone out to the community (see our secure website www.legalproject.org for more info or to donate) and every dollar that is raised will be doubled and will be used to support direct services to domestic violence victims needing our civil legal services. Thank you in advance for all of your support!

Joan Heffler was The Legal Project’s official photographer for our Pro Bono Reception and did a great job capturing the festivities. There is a fun slideshow of Joan’s photos on our website at www.legalproject.org and through the month of December, you can order prints through Joan’s website at www.joanheffler.com, click client login button, type event code: 23591WProBono, then type your name and email and click submit and then click view all images.

There have been a number of bills that were recently signed by the Governor into law that are relevant to attorneys, particularly those practicing in the Family Court or matrimonial area. Thanks to the NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence for providing this important information. The following are summaries of some of the relevant statutes for your review.

Recent Legislation Signed Into Law

Supreme Court Assigned Counsel - S.8096 Skelos / A.10447 Weinstein
Requires Supreme Courts to assign counsel to indigent people in divorce cases, if the case involves matters that could have been under the jurisdiction of Family Court. Counsel will only be assigned for those issues (family offense, custody, child support), not the divorce action.
SIGNED: Chapter 538
EFFECTIVE:August 16, 2006

Pets Covered in Orders of Protection – S.7691 Padavan / A.10767-A Rosenthal*
Allows protection of companion animals to be added to an order of protection issued in a criminal court or Family Court. Requires the respondent to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the petitioner or a minor child living in the household. Companion animals/pets are defined as a dog, cat or any other domesticated animal that lives in or near the household, but does not include farm animals. [An amendment will be needed to fully implement this law in criminal court cases and certain Family Court cases.]
SIGNED: Chapter 253
EFFECTIVE: July 26, 2006

Confidentiality - S.7229 Balboni / A.11448 Rosenthal*
Prohibits an insurance company from disclosing to the person against whom an order of protection was issued, the address and telephone number of the insured victim or any person or entity providing covered services to the insured victim. If a child is the covered person, this protection is extended to the parent or guardian of the child. This law extends confidentiality to victims who are covered by a group insurance policy, to parallel the same protection that was signed into law in 2005 for individuals covered by individual insurance plans.
SIGNED: Chapter 361
EFFECTIVE: November 25, 2006

Statute of Limitations on Sex Crimes - S.8441 Skelos / A.12012 Paulin
Eliminates the statute of limitations on first degree rape, first degree criminal sexual act, first degree aggravated sexual abuse and first degree course of sexual conduct against a child. Extends from one to five years the time allowed for a victim of these crimes to begin a civil action.
SIGNED: Chapter 3
EFFECTIVE: June 23, 2006

DNA Database Expansion - S.8446 Skelos / A.11951 Lentol
Expands the list of criminal convictions for which a person must give a DNA sample for the state DNA database, including all felonies in the NYS Penal Law. The new law adds seventeen misdemeanor crimes, including additional assault, menacing, stalking, unlawful imprisonment, and other offenses.
SIGNED: Chapter 2
EFFECTIVE: June 23, 2006

Workplace Violence - S.6441 Spano / A.9691 John *
Requires public employers to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence. Any public employee, or representative of public employees, who believes that a serious violation of a safety or health standard exists, or an imminent danger exists, may request an inspection by the Department of Labor. Mandates that the Commissioner of Labor enforce this requirement. Domestic violence is not specifically identified in the legislation.
SIGNED: Chapter 82
EFFECTIVE: October 5, 2006

Criminal Court Orders of Protection - S.6871-A Saland / A.9907-A Paulin*
Extends the maximum length of criminal court orders of protection. Felony convictions increase from five to an eight year maximum, A misdemeanors from a three to five year maximum and all other offenses increase from a one to two year maximum.
SIGNED: Chapter 215
EFFECTIVE: August 25, 2006

Criminal Contempt - S.7054 Maltese / A.10150 Hevesi*
Adds prior aggravated criminal contempt to the list of predicate offenses for criminal contempt first degree. Allows for the prosecution of misdemeanor-level criminal contempt to be prosecuted as a felony, if a perpetrator was previously convicted of aggravated criminal contempt in the past five years.
SIGNED: Chapter 349
EFFECTIVE: November 1, 2006

Termination of Parental Rights - S.5392-B Meier / A.11582-B Rivera
Expands the grounds on which parental rights can be terminated. In addition to the current grounds of homicide/attempted homicide of another child of the parent, the new law adds any child for whom the defendant is/was legally responsible. The new law also includes homicide/attempted homicide of the other parent of the child, unless committed by a victim of domestic violence and the violence was a contributing factor to the crime.
SIGNED: Chapter 460
EFFECTIVE: November 14, 2006

Thanks for Volunteering in November!

AHAA
Anne Reynolds Copps
Gerald Dwyer
Michael Mullaney
Kevin Wheatley

Domestic Violence Legal Connection
Laura Egner
Cheryl Hogan
David Levy

HIV/AIDS Wills Project
Tara Anne Pleat
Kim Verner


Legal Clinics

YWCA:
Coordinator – Carol Phillips
Patricia Rodriguez

Albany Public Library:
Coordinator – Katie Weinberg
Melissa Latino
Ron Orlando
David Perino

Unity House:
Coordinator – Abe Bolgatz
Thomas Kenney
Jill Nagy

South End:
Coordinator – Vickie Smith-Moyo
Katherine Levitan
Margaret Vella

Saratoga:
Coordinator – Jessica Lennon
Laura Greco

Equinox:
Coordinator – Carla Brogoch
David Levy
Heena Shaikh
Joann Sternheimer

Thank You to lilyBelle's Boutique