"Clean Slate Bill:" Progressive Naivete.

The latest nonsense being cooked up by progressives is the "Clean Slate Bill."

It would seal and expunge the criminal records of over 2 million convicted criminals in New York State.

That's right, over 2 million!

The idea is to give convicted criminals who've served their time a second chance, so that they could apply for jobs and housing more easily.

They would also need to have kept out of trouble for five years after their release.

Mayor Warren's husband, Tim Granison, kept out of visible trouble for over twenty years, prior to his recent arrest for drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession.

It also allows them to lie if they have been questioned about any previous criminal offenses. They can say "no," because their records have been sealed. They can then proceed to lie about other things, commit new crimes and offenses and, when caught, plead that it is their first time.

Are we getting the point here?

Nor do the advocates of this bill seem to distinguish between petty offenses, like shoplifting and theft, from violent crimes, like murders that have been plead down to manslaughter.

Whether the seriousness of the original crime be considered in this "second chance" is merely one of the questions that have not been answered.

Too often, progressives have passed legislation without seriously thinking about the ramifications of these bills.

The most recent asinine bill passed by the progressives, the "Bail Reform Act," has caused no end of trouble and anger for the police agencies, the courts and the law abiding citizens of New York State.

That bill forces the courts to turn loose people charged with criminal acts with little or no bail, even if the criminals have already been charged with offenses that have not yet gone to trial.

Most, if not all, of our recent violent crimes in Rochester, have been the result of such criminals being turned loose to commit yet more crimes for which they will be turned loose to prey upon the society whose tax dollars are spent to supposedly protect them from such creatures.

Arresting people who are thus protected by having their criminal pasts expunged prevents the police departments and the courts from truly knowing what they are dealing with. Criminals who thus decide to continue their activities after having their records expunged will this be treated more leniently, to society's detriment.

Giving people a second chance is all well and good, but the actual wording of the bill needs to be seriously checked out before it is enacted.

Otherwise, we'll be stuck with criminals being allowed to run around loose with more protection than law-abiding society has.

Which is what the Bail Reform Act did.

Photo from Wikipedia