With the Clean Slate Act signed into law, sentencing reforms are taking center stage as the Legislature focuses on criminal justice this session. But with all members up for reelection in November, it's unclear what they'll be able to get done.

When it comes to criminal justice reform, state Democrats this year have moved away from bail reform and the Clean Slate Act, looking to see the impact of those changes. Now, their focus is shifting to reducing lengthy prison sentences, the aging population in New York's prisons and mass incarceration.

Next week, hundreds of people are coming to Albany to start the push for this year's criminal justice reform agenda, which focuses on reducing lengthy prison sentences of New Yorkers behind bars. It includes measures to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing and the Earned Time Act to allow incarcerated people to reduce their sentences with good behavior, programming or other rehabilitation.

"Judges should not be limited to mandatory minimum sentences, they should be able to consider those mitigating factors that do lead to crime and also incarceration," said Charisse Peace, an advocate with Centers for Community Alternatives, one of more than 150 organizations lobbying for sentencing reforms to clear the Senate and Assembly.

Her brother, Sean Peace, was sentenced to 110 years in state prison for attempted murder and a host of armed robberies over 13 years ago. She says the Second Look Act, which allows people to apply for a reduction after serving 10 years, or half of their sentence, would change her brother's life.

"People are redeemable, and even you know, it's just if we judge a person by the nature of their crime, then we will never have an opportunity to see the person and to see the redemptive qualities in that person," Charisse Peace said.

Assemblywoman Latrice Walker sponsors the Second Look Act, and says the bill would allow incarcerated people to show a judge they have changed and that their sentence should be reconsidered.

"Quite frankly, the laws that we have are outdated, they're unjust and they lead to perpetual punishment," Walker said.

As the political dynamic in New York changes, Walker said the law is critical because it will end mass incarceration and make New York safer overall. She hopes it will get across the finish line this session.

"We know that this really unites people back with their families," Walker said. "And once our families are whole, it leads to better outcomes with respect to school for our children, economics in our communities. It pulls people back together in your housing situations."

But voters in New York are most worried about affordability and public safety, and Republican lawmakers stand firmly against criminal justice changes they feel benefit defendants and not victims.

Assemblyman Michael Tannousis is a former prosecutor in the district attorneys offices in Bronx and Richmond counties, and said cases in the criminal justice system need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

"..It is giving people, career criminals, an incentive to continue to commit crimes," he said. "And it doesn't have that variable, which is a disincentive of people to say, "I'm not going to commit the crime, because this is what will happen to me if I get caught.'"

Four other U.S. states have a similar law to the Second Look Act: Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland and Oregon, in addition to the District of Columbia. It's also been proposed at the federal level.