We all too often hear of legislation signed into law that is named after victims of tragic events. This symbolic gesture, performed by the state Legislature, is a response to grass-roots efforts by concerned citizens to change or create laws that protect their fellow New Yorkers from experiencing similar suffering.
In many cases, government responds too slowly by holding public hearings and collecting endless amounts of data – all while recently released sexual predators victimize more women and children.
Many local and county governments have taken matters into their own hands by passing legislation addressing the problem of recently released sexual predators settling in their communities. Gov. George Pataki in mid-September ordered state authorities to begin evaluating all sexually violent predators in state prisons before their release to determine if they should be civilly confined.
I applaud the effort of local government and the governor, and I fully support their decisions to address this issue while the Assembly speaker continues to block civil confinement legislation and measures to strengthen Megan’s Law. We, as elected officials, should not need to attach the name of a victim to this legislation to see that it is the right thing to do. Our responsibility is to protect our citizens from sexually violent predators.
Assembly minority members first proposed civil confinement legislation in 1993. Since then, the state Senate has continually passed civil confinement legislation and measures designed to strengthen Megan’s Law, and the governor has pledged his support for signing the measures into law.
Civil confinement and Megan’s Law legislation again was killed in committee during the 2005 legislative session, thus continuing the majority’s decision to ban the measures from coming to the Assembly for a vote.
I am proud to have joined many of my colleagues in supporting the following legislative proposals aimed at protecting women and children from sexual predators, and will continue to fight for the enactment of these legislative proposals during the 2006 Legislative Session.
- Prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of a school or school grounds. (A.1654)
- Civil Confinement of sexually violent predators in a secure facility beyond their prison release date if, upon extensive evaluation and a unanimous jury verdict, it is determined they could strike. (A.2693)
- Require the most dangerous sex offenders to wear electronic devices linked to Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites in order to monitor their whereabouts. (A.8158)
- Expand the information available about sex offenders on the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ website to include information on all registered offenders. (A.1701)
- Require law enforcement to release information on Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders - those at the highest risk of committing additional crimes - to vulnerable populations in the community. (A.1654)
- Require lifetime registration for all sex offenders on the NYS Sex Offender Registry.