By Joseph Ax 

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The New York City Bar Association is calling on state legislators to reject a proposed violent offenders registry, expand the worker's compensation law to include time off to care for sick family members, and provide mortgage payment assistance to struggling homeowners.

Those recommendations, among the group's newest legislative priorities, were released Wednesday in a 60-page report.

Others include giving judges more discretion to determine the length of probationary periods during sentencing and to designate juveniles "youthful offenders" in a broader range of cases.

The association also continued to back reforms it has favored for years, including the legalization of medical marijuana, the abolition of judicial elections in favor of a commission-based system and the recording of all criminal interrogations.

The group renewed its call for attorney disciplinary proceedings to be held in public once formal charges have been filed. Under current law, filings are kept confidential until a judicial determination that discipline is warranted.

The full report is available here.

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