NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
"The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt
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NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt |
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October 26, 2005
Sexual Predators
How the New York State legislature is refusing to protect our children
The June 29th murder of Westchester resident Concetta Russo Carriero was shocking due to the intent of the killer, Phillip Grant who admitted he wanted to “kill a white person”. What was not shocking was the fact that the homeless killer was a convicted rapist and level three sex predator. This story has been repeated numerous times all over the country. The only difference is other states have moved to protect families and children from sex predators while our legislature notably the Assembly has failed to act.
Since 1993, the New York State Senate has passed civil confinement legislation eight times with bipartisan support. Sixteen states have passed similar legislation. In April of this year, the Mental Health Committee chaired by Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera (D) voted to “hold” the bill in committee thus killing the bill. If the bill was voted out of the committee, it would face a straight up or down vote and was favored to pass. An effort to support a motion to discharge the bill to the floor was blocked by the Codes Committee chaired by Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol (D).
The New York State legislature is essentially controlled by the “three men”, Governor George Pataki (R), Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D). If any one of the three decline to support a particular piece of legislation, it cannot pass the legislature. While the Governor uses his veto power, the other leaders use their leadership position to block legislation in committee. This has earned New York the title of the most dysfunctional state legislature in America. In regards to this particular legislation, the effort to block its passage must be placed at the feet of Assembly Speaker Silver. Due to the importance of this legislation, the Assembly Speaker has the ability to introduce this legislation directly to the Assembly floor; however he has failed to do so.
Civil confinement is part of comprehensive package of legislation that must be enacted in order to protect our children and our families from sexual predators. This particular legislation calls for a psychiatric evaluation of all convicted sexual predators prior to their release from prison or when a person is charged with a sexually violent offense.
While New York has a commitment law on the books, it was never intended to address sexual predators. The current civil commitment law is inadequate as the treatment modalities do not address the risk of recidivism, there is no record disclosure provision, and the basis to commit based on “mental illness” versus “mental abnormality” are insufficient to address possible long term commitment.
Due to the failure of the legislature to enact civil confinement, Governor Pataki has recently ordered the State Department of Mental Health to evaluate inmates nearing release. Due to the application and current criterion of the statute, the New York Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has indicated that they may challenge this effort in court. It is interesting to note that the ACLU also opposes the current legislation as well.
A civil confinement law specific to sexual predators would deal with a narrow class of persons and would limit civil confinement to those under limited circumstances. The confinement criteria would include a finding of a “mental abnormality” or “personality disorder”, a danger to society and difficulty controlling their behavior. Those who meet this criterion would be afforded all of the constitutional protections with the decision to confine rendered by a jury or trial judge. If ordered confined, the individual would be held in a secure mental health facility to receive treatment until they are deemed safe to release. Civil confinement has been upheld by the US Supreme court in Kansas vs. Hendricks and Kansas vs. Crane.
The Assembly’s effort to combat sexual predators culminated this session with several bill passing the Assembly. While many are helpful, most are superficial as they lack civil confinement and longer prison sentences for violent sexual offenses.
Based on the kidnapping, rape and murder of 9 year old Jessica Lunsford, the state of Florida passed “Jessica’s law”. Some of the provisions are:
Ø 25 years to life for first time aggravated rape of child 14 years or less
Ø Lifetime electronic monitoring for violent sex predators
Ø Creating a class A felony for removing or damaging a monitoring device for anyone subject to life time monitoring
Ø Enhanced monitoring by corrections, parole and probation
Ø Creating a new felony for allowing a sex predator to reside in one’s residence knowing that the sexual predator failed to comply with registration
Ø Requires information sharing between corrections and law enforcement agencies
The Nassau County Civic Association, Inc strongly supports passage of civil confinement and the provisions of “Jessica’s Law”. Our initiative includes mailing correspondence to all 150 members of the Assembly in support of this legislation, a trip to Albany to meet with members of the Assembly and full disclosure as to which members of the legislature who decline to support this legislation. The latter will be accomplished by sending copies of our correspondence to members of the media including “The Factor” with Bill O’Reilly. Mr. O’Reilly has spearheaded a nationwide effort to pass “Jessica’s Law” in every state and certainly deserves credit for bringing attention to this issue in New York. Now it’s up to the people to act. If not for yourself, do it for our children. Together we will prevail!
Current Status
As the civil confinement legislation seeks to amend the mental hygiene law, the correction law and the criminal procedure code, three Assembly Committees have jurisdiction: Correction Committee-Chair Jeffrion L. Aubrey, Codes Committee-Chair Joseph Lentol and Mental Health Committee-Chair Peter Rivera. Joint hearings were held on July 20 and September 20, 2005 on the issue of sexual predators. Based on our conversations with the offices of Speaker Silver, Assemblyman Aubrey, Assemblyman Lentol and Assemblyman Rivera, civil confinement legislation remains under consideration by the Assembly and will be addressed in the next legislative session in 2006. Furthermore, several Assembly members have expressed support for the provisions of Jessica’s Law such as Assemblyman Rivera.
The New York Post reported on December 17th 2005 that thousands of sex predators will be removed from the reporting requirement of Megan's Law because the law requires the reporting of these predators for only ten years. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) wants a one year extension to wait for a federal law which would extend sexual predator reporting further. However, Republicans feel it is unnecessary to wait when the overwhelming majority feel that the law should be extended for a sex predator's lifetime.
Update 12/17/05: On December 6, 2005, the Nassau County Civic Association, Inc was informed that the leadership of the Assembly have agreed to pass civil confinement, increased criminal penalties and monitoring of sexual predators. A formal vote is expected when the legislature reconvenes in 2006.
Update 01/30/06: On January 18th, the Governor signed a bill which strengthened Megan's Law. The most violent sex predators, Level 3 would have to register for life, those who are level 2 would also have to register for life but could petition a court to be removed after 30 years and level 1 offenders would have to register for 20 years.