A decade ago, my colleagues and I in the Senate Majority lead the fight for important reforms to virtually eliminate parole for most violent felons, including major sentencing reforms in 1996 and Jenna’s Law in 1998.
We saw a significant drop in crime because violent criminals were behind bars, not in our communities. Now we are seeing those gains in public safety being reversed by Governor Spitzer -- a reversal that could jeopardize the safety of our neighborhoods.
Last year, 225 violent felons were granted parole -- a huge increase from previous years. Of those, 215 were convicted of murder and the other ten were convicted of either attempted murder or kidnapping.
In addition to increase in violent felons being paroled, there has been a pattern of soft-on-crime policies from Governor Spitzer:
> in 11/07, Spitzer was quietly negotiating a court settlement that would allow new hearing for thousands of inmates who claimed they were unfairly denied release -- including the Son-of-Sam killer and several cop killers (he abandoned the negotiations after strong opposition from Senate Majority);
> the Governor’s budget proposal calls for the closure of 4 prisons; and
> his budget would also expand the State’s "compassionate release" policy and allow many inmates back on the streets.
We cannot stand by as more and more dangerous criminals are released on to the streets.
If you agree that something needs to be done to strengthen current law and put a stop to the increase in parole for dangerous felons we’ve seen under the Spitzer administration, protect the rights of crime victims, and better ensure public safety, please sign my online petition below.