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Public Protection
Holding Criminals Accountable
01 Address Bail and Discovery Reform
Judicial Discretion: Give judges the ability to determine whether violent criminals pose a dangerous threat to the community and if they should be held without bail. Extend the discovery period, limit the disclosure of discovery materials to those materials relevant to the case, allow for the identities of witnesses in murder cases and confidential informants to be kept confidential, permit immediate bench warrant issuance for failure to appear on hate crime charges and place restrictions on the issuance of desk appearance tickets (A.3183-A, Reilly).
Dangerousness Standard: Allowing judges to consider the safety of any person or the community when determining pre-trial release for a criminal suspect (A.9708, Reilly).
Ensure Punishment for Gun Crimes: Remove all gun crimes from the no-bail list of offenses Democrats established in 2019 (A.1503, Barclay).
Hate Crimes & Terror Threats: Ensure that persons who commit hate crimes or make terroristic threats or threats of mass harm are held accountable by restoring judicial discretion to judges when making pre-trial release decisions, allow threats of mass harm to be prosecuted as hate crimes, which provides enhanced penalties for these offenses (A.8283, Barclay).
Witnesses of a Hate Crime: Protects the identity of witnesses of hate crimes in discovery proceedings (A.2773, Gandolfo).
02 Reform Raise the Age
Raise the Age Reform: Require violent felony offenses committed by 16- and 17-year-olds to be tried in Youth Part Criminal Court, ensure access to records, and keep victims of crimes committed by a person under 18 aware of the final disposition of cases (A.6409, Barclay).
Repeated Grand Larceny: Increase the penalty for committing repeated acts of grand larceny of a motor vehicle and make these offenses eligible for bail or remand. Prohibits 16- and 17-year-old Adolescent Offenders charged with grand larceny of a motor vehicle from escaping accountability by being removed to Family Court (A.9104, Reilly).
03 Parole Changes/Victim Support
Parole Reform: Require a unanimous vote of at least three parole commissioners to grant a prisoner early release. Also allows a majority vote of the Legislature to remove a commissioner from the Parole Board (A.5225, Barclay).
Lifetime Post-Release Supervision: Require lifetime post-release supervision for offenders convicted of Rape in the First Degree, Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the First and Second Degrees, or Sexual Abuse in the First Degree when the other person is less than eleven years old; prohibits good behavior allowances against a determinate sentence for a person convicted of any such crimes (A.5463, Barclay).
Three Strikes & You're In: Authorize life in prison without parole for persistent violent felony offenders (A.5557, Brabenec).
Parole Reconsideration: Extends the maximum number of months for the reconsideration of denied applications for parole for specified violent felony offenders (A.8259, Palmesano).
Crime Victim Participation: Allow crime victims to personally attend parole board interviews and require the parole board to review victim impact statements (A.4623, McGowan).
04 Enhanced Penalties/Enforcement
Criminal Street Gang Abatement Act: Enacts the Criminal Street Gang Abatement Act, which defines “criminal street gang” and provides for enhanced penalties for persons who commit gang-related crimes (A.9368, Novakhov).
Combination of Petit Larceny Charges: Authorize prosecutors to combine petit larceny charges within an 18-month period, potentially elevating petit larceny to grand larceny charges (A.5029, Reilly).
"Bella's Law": Call for an investigation into possible domestic violence or abuse for persons who have been accused of animal abuse (A.1276, A. Brown).
"Clara's Law": Require hospitals and health care facilities to report incidents of sexual offense against a patient by a health care practitioner to the Department of Health and the Department of Education (A.2991, Gallahan).
"Todd's Law": Increase the punishment by one category when a person is convicted of petit larceny or grand larceny and the property stolen is necessary for the daily living of a physically disabled or elderly individual (A.5402, Smith).
Additional Penalties for Committing Crimes with a Firearm: Provide for an additional five-year term of imprisonment for committing a felony while possessing a loaded firearm (A.4222, Mikulin).
Firing into a Crowded Space: Make it a class B violent felony to fire into a crowded space with the intent to harm (A.2929, Jensen).
REPEAT Act: Reduce recidivism by establishing mandatory rehabilitation and treatment alternatives for persistent criminal offenders (to be introduced, Pirozzolo).