New York Assemblyman Chuck Lavine gently alluded to the problem:

Despite the fact that New York is one of the largest states in the country and one of the largest economies in the world, my colleagues and I work shockingly few hours: Next year we are scheduled to spend just 57 days in Albany between Jan. 6 and June 16, when the legislative session ends.

Thirty of those days will go toward completing the state budget, due at the end of March. Those days will be totally consumed with fiscal analysis and negotiation, leaving only 27 days between April 1 and June 16 to consider all other governmental business, including more than 10,000 bills. There’s little chance we’ll get to more than a handful of those.

The ones that rise to the top, actually reach the legislature so that there’s a potential for action, usually have some dead kid’s name attached to them, or the likelihood of getting a front page headline to show what a great job government is doing for us and why you should re-elect your incumbent.

Unsexy laws, critically needed reform, not so much. But then there’s the other problem, that the Democrat-controlled assembly knows that the Republican-controlled senate is going to nix them anyway, so why waste scarce time trying to change something that won’t happen anyway?

Mario’s son, Andy Cuomo, is no stranger to playing the headline game, and so he characterizes his gesture in sufficiently grand terms to garner the benefit.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Sunday that he would seek out and pardon thousands of people who were convicted of nonviolent crimes as teenagers but have since led law-abiding lives.

Well, that sounds pretty gosh-darned cool, right? Thousand will be pardoned, which is pretty significant given Cuomo’s “parsimonious” use of his pardon power up to now, which has a grand total of nine recipients.

Envisioned as a way to remove stubborn barriers to employment, housing and other services, the pardons would be available to anyone who was found guilty of a nonviolent felony or misdemeanor that was committed while they were 16 or 17, provided they have spent at least a decade without any additional convictions. Under his plan, Mr. Cuomo intends to invite those people to apply for — and virtually be assured of receiving — a governor’s pardon, as long as they meet several other criteria.

Putting aside the fact that people have to apply for the pardon, itself a rather significant impediment, the concluding phrase, “as long as they meet several other criteria,” is a rather understated detail.

Initially, what this refers to, without really saying so, is that New York lacks an expungement statute. It’s been one of the thousands of glaring holes in its legislative scheme, that there is no way out of a youthful indiscretion, no matter whether you’ve cured cancer or saved a kitten up a tree.

Still, there will be applause from commenters unaware that New York already has a “youthful offender” statute, that accomplishes the end result but in a far more useful fashion.  The problem begins with Cuomo’s requiring that an applicant’s conviction be at least ten years old, without any additional criminal convictions. The conviction not be for a “sex crime,” and the applicant not be in arrears on taxes.  Even reform bends to the lure of money, and Cuomo’s not so foolish as to give away leverage when it comes to collecting the loot.

But the worst of the problem is that 16 and 17-year-olds will continue to be prosecuted as adults, with Youthful Offender Treatment as a bargaining chip in plea negotiations, in the progressive paradise of New York.  And should they not get the sweet deal, they will suffer the burdens heaped upon those convicted like everyone else.

The governor’s unusual effort — potentially granting mass clemency on a level rarely seen — comes as efforts to reform the state’s juvenile justice laws have met resistance in the Legislature; most states have raised the age of criminal responsibility after reviewing studies that showed people are often not psychologically mature until early adulthood. The pardon plan also comes amid a national debate over reducing sentences for nonviolent offenders, in part because of the cost of mass incarceration and concerns about racial inequality in the criminal justice system.

Ten years without education, housing, loans and jobs. Woo hoo! Cuomo has saved the children!!!

The pardons will not expunge a person’s criminal record, according to administration officials, but will instead provide legal relief for anyone barred by law from certain occupations, including jobs in schools, construction, nursing homes, real estate brokerages and security companies. Applicants for a job, for instance, would still check “Yes” to the box asking if they have been convicted of a crime, but they would have documentation from the governor’s office indicating an official pardon for that offense.

What are the chances, when the box gets checked “yes” that you have a felony conviction, that the potential employer will call you in and ask whether you have an official form from the governor?  But the important thing isn’t that it serve any real purpose, but give the governor the chance to offer this:

“It’s a way to help people get on with their life,” said Mr. Cuomo, adding that his plan would act as a reward for good behavior and a chance at redemption. “When you’re young you can make a mistake, and maybe you don’t have to carry the burden for your entire life.”

How great a guy is the governor?  He cares so deeply.

“You do what you can with the powers you have,” he said. “And this is within my power.”

And what Cuomo has done is get himself a nice, self-promoting, and otherwise completely meaningless story in the New York Times.  His people estimate that there are 10,000 people who will immediately qualify for a pardon.

I estimate there are seven who will actually benefit, four of whom were innocent to begin with but copped a no-Youthful Offender Treatment plea to get off Rikers in less than three years so they wouldn’t miss their 19th birthday parties. Ain’t Cuomo a swell guy?  Ain’t New York all reform-y?  Does this not conclusively prove how committed government is to turning “prison nation” around?