The Law

The DVSJA takes a broad view of domestic violence as more than just intimate partner abuse and allows relief for survivors convicted of a range of offenses, including felonies categorized as violent. It allows judges to sentence survivors to shorter prison terms and, in some cases, community-based alternative-to-incarceration programs, and provides survivors currently in prison the opportunity to apply for resentencing.   

“This law was struggled, fought, advocated by and for women of color. When is it our turn? When do Black women get justice?”

— Sharon White-Harrigan

The law specifies that a court can impose an alternative sentence if it finds that:

  1. The person was, at the time of the offense, a victim of domestic violence subjected to substantial physical, sexual or psychological abuse inflicted by an intimate partner or family member

  2. The abuse was a “significant contributing factor” to the person’s participation in the crime

  3. A sentence under current law would be, or in the case of resentencing the original sentence is, “unduly harsh.” 

The DVSJA amended Penal Law § 60.12, which allows for an alternative sentence, and created Criminal Procedure Law § 440.47, which allows for resentencing for survivors currently in prison serving sentences of 8 years or more.