ALBANY, NY- Yet another blue state is considering pro-criminal bills that will make that state less safe.
Fox News Digital reports that New York legislators are considering four terrible bills that critics say could lead to the release of mass murderers, serial killers, and other violent inmates, Fox News Digital reports.
Suffolk County officials and victims’ families highlighted some of those who could be released early under the bill, including serial killer Joel Rifkin, who murdered between nine and 17 women; Colin Ferguson, who killed six and wounded 19 on a Long Island commuter train, and Payton Gendron, a white supremacist who murdered 10 people in a predominantly black neighborhood grocery store in Buffalo.
Critics say that thousands of other violent offenders could be released. The bills would establish an “elder parole program” such as California has, which has received widespread criticism from law enforcement officials and victims’ families over its release of violent criminals.
The bills would also impose other changes that would lead to the early release of convicted murderers.
“We’re talking about the worst of the worst,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told Fox News Digital.
“The people who have done really the worst acts possible and have proven to be really a danger to our society. And they’re like an infinitesimal, small percentage of our population who create an inordinately large amount of all of the problems, all the violence, all of the theft, and everything else.”
Among those joining Suffolk County officials at a Friday news briefing was Theresa Bliss, whose son, David, was murdered outside a pizzeria in Port Jefferson in 2021 after an argument with strangers.
“I have a question for every New York lawmaker pushing the Earned Time Act, Fair and Timely Parole Act, Elder Parole, and Second Look Act–does our pain mean anything to you?” she asked. “How do you fight so aggressively for the early release of murderers, yet dismiss the families whose lives were shattered? The victims don’t get second chances.”
The man who shot her son received 40 years to life in prison, howeever that parole could come much sooner under the proposed legislation.
“When you pass laws that prioritize criminals over victims, you’re not reforming the system–you’re erasing us,” she added.
The Suffolk County press briefing came only days after DA Tierney secured a guilty plea from Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann, who admitted to torturing and killing eight women, and who is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Tierney has slammed New York’s bail reform laws, highlighting a case where a group of people suspected of dismembering a body and littering the remains around Long Island’s south shore were allowed to go free before police could obtain enough evidence to charge them with killing the victim.
Tierney also disregarded New York’s sanctuary laws earlier in April when he turned a Guatemalan illegal alien accused of raping a child over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
“While these bills are often framed as reforms and have innocuous titles, in reality, they will push thousands of New York’s most violent criminals out onto our streets,” Tierney said.
The bills subject to Tierney’s wrath, along with that of Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine, include:
One bill would cut all sentences of less than life in prison by half and prevent prison assaults and stabbings from being deducted from good-behavior credits. This proposed reduction would apply retroactively and would “result in the immediate release of thousands of New York’s most dangerous inmates. This is, of course, absurd.
“These people are where they are because they richly deserve it,” Tierney told Fox News Digital. “Every second of whatever sentence they receive, they’ve earned.”
Another bill would prevent the state’s parole board from considering the nature of the original crime when deciding parole, “no matter how horrible.” Tierney and Romaine said that the provision specifically benefits murderers and rapists, noting that it implies parole is automatic, not earned.
“It turns parole upside down–it prohibits consideration of the seriousness of the crime and even the defendant’s remorse or lack of it,” Tierney said.
The third bill, so-called “elder parole,” is a California-style bill; however, it would go even further than the California measure. New York’s version would abolish life without parole “even for serial killers, cop killers, and racist murderers,” and applies to inmates who are older than 55 and who have served at least 15 years of their sentence, including those for life.
Citing Gendron as an example, Tierney said,” Once [Gendron] turns 55, every two years those families are going to have to go through the parole process again. Why?”
Finally, the fourth bill would allow convicted felons to petition a judge for a sentence reduction. The judge cannot, however, be the same one who imposed the original sentence.
There is no limit on the number or frequency of petitions, and if one is denied, the inmate can immediately file another appeal with a different judge.
“These bills are an insult to every law-abiding citizen, the law enforcement community, and especially the victims of these crimes,” railed Romaine, the top elected official in Suffolk County, a suburb of New York City. “Use common sense and do not pass these bills.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office for comment, however none was received.
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