ALBANY — A coalition of New York’s Republican state senators, Assembly members, law enforcement and the presumptive Republican nominee challenging U.S. Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand rallied in Albany on Tuesday to reform the state parole board, which they accused of being too kind to criminals and those who kill police officers.
The Republican lawmakers were roundly critical of New York’s criminal justice laws, especially its parole laws and the power given to the state parole board to release people to parole supervision convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, assaulting or sexually abusing children, whom they said should be kept in prison from conviction to death.
“There are certain crimes that stand out, just because you’re older doesn’t make you any less of a rapist, or a murder or a pedophile,” said Senate Republican leader Robert G. Ortt III, R-North Tonawanda.
“There are certain crimes that we as a society say, ‘you know what, I don’t care if you’re 90 years old or you’re 25, if that’s what you did, that’s what you are’.”
‘NOT EVERYONE DESERVES’ SECOND CHANCES
Assembly Republican leader William A. Barclay, R-Pulaski, was similarly critical, and said he believes there are some crimes that necessitate permanent imprisonment.
“We all believe in second chances,” he said. “But frankly not everyone deserves them.”
Since 2017, 41 people convicted of killing a police officer have been released on parole in New York, and there are two more men convicted of killing police officers coming up for parole hearings in the next few weeks — one, Mitchell Martin, killed an off-duty NYPD officer in Brooklyn in 1982, and the other, Eddie Matos, who killed an NYPD officer in 1989.
Mattos was denied parole in April, but a technicality means he is up for reconsideration again this month.
“These are two individuals we would know rightfully as cop killers, coming up for parole in front of a parole board that has shown a willingness, in fact an eagerness, to parole cop killers,” Ortt said.
He said his goal Tuesday was to urge, or even shame, the parole board into not releasing those two men, and would work with his Republican colleagues to support legislation that would reform the parole board to be firmer on criminal penalties.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
One such bill, supported by Sen. Peter Oberacker, R-Oneonta, and Assemblyman Joseph M. Giglio, R-Olean, would require that the state parole board have one member with a background in law enforcement, and another who has a background in crime victim services and advocacy.
“It got killed in committee,” Giglio said. “I am just tired, tired of standing here talking about the people that I love, the people that risk their lives every day, the people that I’ve stood beside … who protects the protectors? The answer is, we do and we will.”
The state Republicans are also supporting another bill that would make killing a first responder, including fire fighters, police officers and EMS staff, a mandatory life sentence without parole.In the Democrat-controlled Senate and Assembly, these parole reforms are not popular.
POLITICAL DIVIDE
No Democrats co-sponsor any of the bills the Republicans are supporting, and the Republicans do not have the votes to move any of these bills along without Democratic support.
The lawmakers said there’s only one clear path to making these changes, by getting a majority in both chambers in this year’s election.
“(The Democrats) are afraid to step up, they’re afraid to speak out against cop killers, to vote against bills that will release people from prison prematurely, that have not paid their debt to society” said Sen. George M. Borrello, R-Sunset Bay.
“That is the Albany we live in, and there is only one solution. There needs to be more of us and less of them, thank you very much.”