New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers are illegally accessing sealed juvenile arrest records, according to a recently filed class-action lawsuit. According to the suit, officers have been obtaining these sealed records in violation of New York state law and have even gone so far as giving those records to prosecutors.
In New York, several provisions of state law (often called the "youth sealing statutes") require that when a minor's arrest results in a "favorable" result—meaning that there was a decision not to prosecute the case, or it was dismissed or otherwise withdrawn—the youth's arrest records be sealed. This sealing is wide-reaching, preventing not just everyday members of the public but also any "public or private agency" from obtaining the records, according to the suit. Only a court order can allow someone to access these arrest records.
