While the holidays approach, the public will be less tuned into politics and government.
We at The Messenger, on the other hand, couldn’t be more invested in what the new year will bring, particularly legislative action – or inaction – in Albany.
We don’t want anything for Christmas except for true progress to be made. Even calling this wish list “progress” is something of an understatement. In many ways, the “reforms” made under the typical modern “progressive” banner have been anything but.
Regressive, unnavigable, and just plain tone deaf is how we would best describe the last few sessions in Albany under the Democratic trifecta. The true “progress” that we seek isn’t exactly progress; it’s more of a course correction back to what worked.
There’s always room for reform, but in an increasingly siloed, cynical, and partisan world, it’s inevitable that the pendulum swings too far.
Here’s what’s on our Christmas list this year. The twist, however, is that we’re writing to the blue suits, not the red ones.
Criminal Justice Reform and Victim Advocacy
To even discuss criminal justice reform in New York State is almost a moot point. At this juncture, we’ve said almost all that we can on the topic.
But so have local elected officials, law enforcement professionals, and prosecutors from blue and red counties. They haven’t ceased in their messaging, so neither will we.
Pages 12 and 13 in all three issues this week cover a roundtable held by members of the State Senate Republican Conference, in which seasoned perspectives were gained from professionals, but also crime victims and the families of crime victims. While their cases were notably different, a common theme rang out: the State is ostensibly crafting a system where criminals are coddled while victims are antagonized.
At what point does the progressive wing of the Legislature, and those unwilling to stand up to them en masse, simply recognize that their methods aren’t working? Is it pathological altruism and progressive myopia, or is it mutually-assured destruction?
Ultimately, the answer doesn’t matter. The reality is that reforms like cashless bail and Raise the Age have only handcuffed law enforcement, kneecapped the prosecutors, and neutered the judiciary. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney noted at the aforementioned roundtable that the system has been designed – perhaps intentionally, we find – to leave complaints and concerns in a vacuum. The local officials, elected or appointed, can’t be held accountable, either through protest or at the ballot box, because many were not consulted on these State-level changes and none are responsible for being boxed into a corner – even if by a product of friendly fire from the same side of the political aisle.
Moreover, crime victim advocates recognize bad policy when they see it. Laura Ahearn, Esq., also a featured speaker at the roundtable, runs the Crime Victims Center in Ronkonkoma. Ahearn ran as a Democrat for State Senate, District One, in 2020, coming up short by a couple of points. She didn’t have the most approving words for the string of reforms we’ve seen since 2019. Her center, and others like hers, is filling the gaps where the State should be picking up the slack, only to be hit with more unfunded mandates, goalpost-moving legislation, and a revolving-door criminal justice system. For the record, her and her team’s services are invaluable to not only Suffolk residents, but New Yorkers from across the state. As someone deeply invested in the system, Ms. Ahearn’s experience and words are deeply valued.
Chillingly, the victim advocates say that the initial trickle-down of soft-on-crime dogma permeated from the federal level, with advocates on the ground being briefed to normalize these trends and desensitize the victims. It makes giving these policies the benefit of the doubt an even harder sell when the architects were essentially preparing everyone for failure before they were widely enacted.
We humbly request that Albany prioritize the victims, increase transparency, and allow localities to gauge their own needs and problems. Yes, a statewide constant should be operable, but not to the point of adamantly stating that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander – no further questions.
Albany should also relent from resting on their laurels in terms of commonsense changes to some of our archaic laws, like the list of identifiable substances consulted for roadside stops on grounds of possible inebriation. The list can hardly keep up with the conga line of synthetic opioids that are produced faster than they can be classified.
Coddling criminals also attempts to prove the negative. The latest domestic violence reforms attempt to balance out an offender’s past by trying to portray them as products of their environment, rather than perpetrators of their own volition. The end result: criminals getting drastically reduced sentences on alleged past trauma or abuse while families aren’t given closure, victims aren’t avenged, and the revolving door continues to twirl.
Tough love is needed, and Suffolk County should be seen as the beacon on the hill in that regard. With a recidivism rate far lower than the national average, and with vocational training and post-release consultation programs, this is where a balance is struck between a tough-on-crime stance as well as much-needed rehabilitation.
Clear Goals on Energy
New York’s looming energy crisis can’t be understated. With aging power infrastructure and a grid that can’t keep up with demand, Governor Hochul (D) and company’s prerogative has been to double down in the name of pathological environmentalism.
We hold no disdain for protecting the environment and pursuing clean solutions, but we can’t put the generator before the horse. Hochul’s recent postponement of CLCPA provisions that were to be enacted in January is a logical move, but one we observe with baited breath. The congestion pricing bait-and-switch ahead of the 2024 elections is closer in the mirror than it appears, and Hochul’s critics are wise to hold that episode close.
Alternative methods of emissions reduction and grid fuel, such as carbon capture, and utilizing fossil fuels in the cleanest ways possible, the NESE and Constitution pipelines, would be a good start.
Less Lecturing, More Legislating
This one is geared more towards Hochul. The hilariously insulting mascot “Frankie Focus” unveiled earlier this year had the goal of getting kids off their cell phones. Instead of speaking to kids with real-world advice, no matter how uncomfortable it might be for them, Hochul decided that talking down to them with a Muppet-like character was the way to break through to them. It’s yet another installment of the Governor being awkwardly out-of-touch while making no discernible impact – all while core institutions are virtually being left to collapse in on themselves like dying stars.
If the modern political age has taught us anything, it’s two core tenets: economic populism reigns supreme on both sides of the aisle, and people are tired of being spoken to like children. They just want results.
If Albany wants a more productive session come January, the majority caucus and the Governor will have to stop overthinking the simple moves and start moving the pendulum to a more palatable middle on key issues. Whether or not the progressive wing of the Legislature allows Hochul to govern as a moderate – try as she might – remains to be seen. If history is any harbinger, we’re not entirely optimistic.
And like any Christmas list, if these gifts can’t be fulfilled, cash is fine, we suppose…
