Sentencing Reform for Criminalized Survivors: Learning from New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act

Created by The Sentencing Project and Survivors Justice Project, Sentencing Reform for Criminalized Survivors: Learning from New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act offers guidance to states on creating a more trauma-informed approach to sentencing practices for survivors of intimate partner violence, family abuse, and trafficking.

Through the lens of the successes and challenges of New York’s DVSJA, this guide explores the need for similar bills across the country (referred to as DVSJA legislation, DVSJA laws or DVSJA relief) and offers recommendations for advocates and legislators developing and implementing those laws in their own jurisdictions. Drawing from case law and the guidance of survivors, advocates, and litigators, the guide offers a model bill, which can be adapted to fit any locality. Woven throughout are the experiences of those who have applied for DVSJA relief in New York or those who would benefit from such a law should it be enacted in their state.

Specifically, the guide recommends that states enact sentencing laws for domestic violence survivors that:

Create broad and trauma-informed eligibility criteria
Develop a legal process accessible to survivors
Craft a trauma-informed and realistic legal standard
Maximize sentence reductions

The ultimate goal of these recommendations is to allow advocates to draw on lessons learned from New York’s DVSJA to strengthen efforts for survivor sentencing legislation already gaining ground across the United States.