Assemblyman Marc Butler (R,C,I-Newport) says the Assembly minority, fresh off their victorious push for a stronger Megan’s Law, wants their colleagues to take the next step by advancing a civil commitment policy to deal with the most dangerous of convicted sex offenders whose prison sentences expire.
“The Assembly minority scored a major victory for the most vulnerable of New Yorkers when we passed this critical Megan’s Law legislation,” said Butler. “But there is more that must be done. There are still dangerous sex offenders and pedophiles out there who would continue to carry out their heinous sex crimes if wrongly released from prison.”
Butler joined his Assembly minority colleagues in calling for a joint conference committee of both houses of the state Legislature to hammer out an agreement on a civil commitment policy. Such a committee resulted in a bipartisan agreement on the Megan’s Law provision passed by both houses earlier this week.
Under the Assembly minority version of the civil commitment bill, an individual currently serving a prison sentence on a sex crime conviction who is determined to be a “sexually violent predator” through an in-depth review process would be confined to a mental-health facility after the person’s release from prison. The predator would receive professional treatment while confined and undergo annual evaluations to determine if the offender should be released.
“This is a fair and comprehensive process to determine who continues to be at risk of repeating their crimes and who is rehabilitated. We want only those offenders who are ready to rejoin society released from custody,” concluded Butler. “This bill would do just that. We’re not about playing politics with this issue. We are trying to do what’s best to improve and further protect our communities and all New Yorkers.”