New York Changes Sentencing Laws to Protection Non-Citizens from Deportation

Convictions for certain types of offenses within the United States subject non- citizens to deportation. One class of conviction that subjects non-citizens to deportation is a conviction for a crime for which the defendant could be sentenced to one or more years in prison. Previously, misdemeanor offenses in New York all carried a potential sentence of one year in prison. However, the legislature has now passed a law which states that persons convicted of misdemeanors may be sentenced to not more than 364 days in prison, one day short of one year. It is thought that the passage of this law will reduce the likelihood that individuals will be deported because of a conviction for a misdemeanor in New York.