Ahead of a joint legislative hearing to review the Public Protection portion of Governor Hochul’s proposed FY26 budget, The Alliance to Protect Kalief's Law, a coalition of exonerees, public defenders, impacted New Yorkers, and advocates is urging legislators to reject Governor Hochul’s proposal to roll back Kalief’s Law, New York’s successful discovery reform. The Alliance warns that the proposed changes would turn back the clock on justice, reviving harmful practices that kept critical evidence hidden from people accused of crimes.

"Kalief’s Law was enacted to end New York’s ‘Blindfold Law,’ which kept people facing criminal charges and their attorneys in the dark," the coalition stated. "For decades, prosecutors would withhold evidence in a criminal case until the day of trial—or never share it at all. This led to wrongful convictions, coerced plea agreements, prolonged pretrial detention, and devastating harm to individuals, families, and entire communities."

The coalition makes clear that the Governor’s claims about discovery reform causing case delays are not supported by evidence. On the contrary, "early evidence sharing reduces case delays by encouraging plea bargains when information is available for the accused to review." The coalition also rejects the argument that prosecutors cannot meet their discovery obligations, stating that "Kalief’s Law does not require the ‘perfect prosecutor’ only a ‘diligent’ one."

The proposed changes would gut core safeguards in the law, allowing prosecutors to withhold key evidence from defendants and eroding transparency in the legal system. "They will dismantle safeguards that keep innocent people from languishing in jail, expose police misconduct, and bring fairness to our courts. They will add to delays, foster secrecy, and punish people by once again blindfolding them and their attorneys about the evidence in their case," the statement warns.

Read the full press release here.