40-22, a bill that the New York Senate passed, will be revoking a 44-year-old law which obstructed police disciplinary records from being made public. “New Yorkers will be better able to hold their police department accountable for misconduct committed in their communities,” a supporter for the repeal of provision 50-A said.
This is a primary indication that the nationwide police brutality protests are indeed advancing actionable change.
Being first approved in the 1970s, the 50-A law had a purpose of preventing defense attorneys from introducing disciplinary incidents during cross-examinations of police, firefighters and correctional officers.
Since the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, New Yorkers have continued fighting to repeal the law, particularly after the police-involved murder of Eric Garner.
