The mother of Eric Garner standing side by side with Iris Baez. Two women whose sons died after police put them in chokeholds.

They are backing the push to repeal state law 50A which keeps police disciplinary and complaint records, and even footage from police body cameras hidden from public review.  

"It's not fair to me; it's not fair to you. All the New York citizens it is not fair to," said Gwen Carr, mother to Eric Garner.

Carr says the only reason she learned about the disciplinary record of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the cop who placed her son in a chokehold, was because of a leak to the media.

Advocates and many elected officials say the public has a right to know such information.

"Whether it is about corruption, whether it is about violence, whether it is about racism the idea is to root out the public servants who aren't serving the public whether they have a badge or not," said State Senator Jessica Ramos.

There will be two state senate hearings on 50A, the first since the push to repeal the law started three years ago.

"Keeping this information secret undermines public confidence in our police," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried.

Police unions are against repealing the law. They argue making cops names and records public could put them in physical danger or be used by defense attorneys to get charges against criminals dismissed.

The Police Commissioner supports making such records public as long as disciplinary hearings are completed and wrongdoing is confirmed.

"But we also know that the police officers who have a history of compliant continue to police these communities. They continue to patrol these streets. But, the public has been deprived from getting any information about the officers,” said Dawit Getachew, Attorney of Bronx Defenders.

Along with tomorrow's state senate hearing here in Manhattan, there'll be another hearing next Thursday on 50A up in Albany.