Sometimes you wonder who has more rights -- criminals or innocent people.
In April, the state court of appeals ruled that the state cannot impose post-release supervision on inmates when they leave prison if the judge who sentenced them neglected to require it. In essence, the court’s decision could have freed hundreds of prisoners without parole and affected thousands more who have been freed after serving their terms. You would think criminal justice is like a Monopoly game and someone just got a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
That’s why the New York State Senate passed legislation (S.8614-A) to deal with the court’s decision. The bill reflects a three-way agreement among the senate, the assembly, and the governor.
The bill is designed to keep thousands of violent criminals from being turned loose into our communities without proper post-release parole supervision. The legislation is critically important to protecting the public and underscores the important role which parole officers play in keeping our communities safe, The view of most experts is that the bill approved by the senate and agreed upon by the assembly will close the technical loophole created by the courts and it will establish a process to protect the public safety while also balancing any individual's legal rights.
In essence, it is going to clear up a serious oversight that could have allowed violent criminals to be released from prison without any supervision. It will provide for identification and resentencing of criminals to ensure that post-release supervision is in place to monitor any dangerous individuals who are released. We want to send a loud and clear message that we will never allow the safety and security of all New Yorkers to be threatened due to lawyer-friendly loopholes and legal technicalities.
By preventing convicted criminals from freely roaming our streets and neighborhoods with no supervision, this important measure will help to combat crime, save lives, and prevent future tragedies from occurring.
The legislation would:
> Require the courts that failed to properly impose sentences as required by law to resentence any inmates affected by the courts’ errors;
> Impose a prescribed time frame within which the courts are mandated to perform the resentencings;
> Allow a district attorney to preserve existing a conviction in a case where the defendant would have otherwise had a right to vacate his plea and demand a new trial by allowing the district attorney to consent to the original sentence imposed without the imposition of a period of post release supervision.
The provisions will apply to all improperly sentenced inmates currently in prison or released and on parole supervision, and to those who have been reincarcerated on violations of post release supervision.
Keeping violent criminals under our watchful eye is one more way to keep our communities safe.
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