There are currently four significant pieces of legislation relating to criminal leniency making their way through the committee process in Albany. They are S6615, S15A, S1415A and S1553A. The bills respectively relate to “justifying the use of force by police officers and peace officers and to the excessive use of police force,” “parole eligibility for certain incarcerated persons age fifty-five,” “findings of the state board of parole necessary for discretionary release of incarcerated persons on parole,” and “automatic sealing of certain convictions.”
The delegation, which includes Senators Mario Mattera (R,C,I- Smithtown), Alexis Weik (R,C,I- Islip), Anthony Palumbo (R, C- New Suffolk) and Phil Boyle (R,C- Bay Shore) sharply criticized the measures coming from Albany Democrats. In addition, they lambasted measures previously passed, such as bail “reform” and repealing measure 50-A, which made it more difficult to attain a police officer’s disciplinary record. The Senators were joined by Assemblyman Michael Durso (R,C- Massapequa Park), District Attorney Candidate Ray Tierney and Jennifer Harrison of Victims Rights NY. The press conference took place Friday, June 4th, at the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex in Riverhead.
“This is where the bad stuff happens. This past week we are voting on 200 pieces of legislation a day,” Boyle said. Adding “that this is where pro-criminal legislation can slip in in the night.” The lectern next to Boyle was flanked by poster boards naming infamous murderers in the state that would now be eligible for parole. These included the “Son of Sam” and the “Long Island Railroad Shooter.”
“We even have a Governor that says, ‘I wouldn’t want my children on the subway.’ When our governor made sure we had bail reform passed right away, 50A passed right away,” Mattera said. He cautioned the audience on what happened previously. “Now, guess what, [the Governor] wants to put the blame on elected officials in the city of New York,” stated Mattera. “I say to Cuomo, ‘you’re the one doing this to all of us.’”
The so-called ‘Police Accountability Act,’ S6615, is designed to redesign force dynamics between the police and the public. Advocates of the bill, such as Attorney General Letitia James (D, WF, I), believe that the measures are necessary to “[provide] clear and legitimate standards for when the use of force is acceptable and enacting real consequences for when an officer crosses that line.” The bill states that the use of force must be a last resort, simple suspicion of criminal conduct cannot justify lethal force, allows prosecutors to evaluate if police conduct led to the use of force and establishes standard and criminal penalties to prevent excessive use of police force.
Mattera stated that the move to alter police force was akin to stripping police officers of “another tool” necessary to perform their jobs, stating “right now police officers do not have the tools to use their jobs.” The bill which would force police officers to get a “private insurance policy” is deterring many “qualified candidates” from the job.
Other measures such as S15A and S1415A would guarantee a parole hearing for those over the age of 55 and allow parole-eligible people to be released, unless there is a cause for public safety concern, respectively. Advocates say that these measures are necessary to allow elderly inmates and those serving harsh sentences to have a new lease on life.
Victim’s advocates such as Harrison believe that “This proposed legislation is not only another slap in the face to victims but is flat out dangerous. It circumvents the entire judicial process and ignores the sentencing decisions of experts like judges and prosecutors and handcuffs the parole board. We have already seen what their blanket releases accomplish through ‘Bail Reform’ and ‘Raise the Age,’ and it only emboldens violent criminals. The last thing we need are more blanket release mandates that will give an already sympathetic parole board no choice but to release even the most violent convicted murderers, even those that have raped and murdered children.”
Harrison stated that on her way to the press conference, she spoke to a convenience store owner, with who she got into a conversation. That man’s 18 years old nephew was arrested for “multiple nonviolent robbery charges and got 13 years to life. “He did more time than my boyfriend’s murderer.” Harrison’s boyfriend’s murderer was released on early parole.
With the stakes high on both sides of the issue, Senator Weik added that “I proudly stand with victims advocates in opposing these measures and fighting to ensure they never see the light of day.”
