Crime Committee Report e.indd - New York State Senate

What is all too often missing in news reporting is a failure to reflect upon what is working
here in New York State, and while justice should be dispatched dispassionately, it should be fair
and equal. Since attaining majority status in the State Senate, our Conference has created a
new discourse as it relates to chemical dependency and treatment, begun to reform the parole
and probation systems, decreased the prison population and right-sized our correctional facilities,
ended the cynical practice of prison gerrymandering, ensured access to justice by creating
the Office for Indigent Legal Services (OILS), and a nine-member Indigent Legal Services
(ILS) Board, stabilized and restructured the funding stream for the Interest on Lawyer Account
Fund (IOLA) , and made major strides in the reform of the domestic violence laws.
This document identifies legislation – proposed, pending and passed – that will, if enacted in
law, significantly enhance protections of individual freedom, fairness, and, when necessary, increase
the penalties for certain criminal offenses that compromise the health and safety of the
community at large. There has not been a lack of popular support for this agenda. To the contrary,
the proposals we recommend have broad public support in communities from the Bronx
to Buffalo, as evidenced by public hearings held throughout New York State in the 2009-2010
Legislative Session. The Senate Majority will continue to advocate for a civil liberties agenda,
while maintaining that the overall public safety of the community remains paramount.