For well over a decade, the fight to pass civil confinement has been one of the issues that has failed to reach a bi-partisan agreement in the state Assembly. Sadly, that pattern continues once again with the Assembly Majority failing to take any substantive action on civil confinement during an extraordinary legislative session called by Governor Pataki.
The failure to act by the Assembly Majority is much more than the typical legislative dysfunction; it is a disgraceful failure to millions of families statewide who work everyday to ensure a safe future for their children. An agreement on civil confinement today would have ensured that the worst sex offenders, labeled Level 3 predators, would remain in secure facilities beyond their prison release date. However, the Assembly Majority has decided to use civil confinement as a bargaining chip to extract agreements on their own legislative agenda.
With the end of the year quickly approaching, the passage of a real civil confinement measure remains in doubt. Despite the setback today, I pledge to continue this vital fight to ensure we have the strongest civil confinement law possible to help protect our most vulnerable citizens, our women and children. With the continued unwavering support of families here in the Mohawk Valley and Central New York along with families from all reaches of the state, I am hopeful that one day in the near future the partisan bickering by the Assembly Majority will end and a solid civil confinement bill will be agreed upon.