Assembly Minority members today announced that since May 2005, more than 15,000 signatures have been collected from New Yorkers as part of a grass-roots petition drive demanding that Assembly Majority members stop stalling and start passing legislation to protect New Yorkers from dangerous sexual predators. The legislation includes civil confinement and measures to strengthen Megan’s Law.

"In just a few short months, we have obtained thousands of signatures from concerned citizens across the state, and we plan to continue until this is law," said Assembly Minority Leader Charles H. Nesbitt (R,C,I-Albion). "Today, as we present the early returns from our petition drive, the Assembly Majority is holding a hearing to determine whether such legislation is warranted. These petitions are a rallying cry from New Yorkers that they want the Assembly to stop talking about civil confinement and start acting to protect our families."

Civil confinement would allow the courts to order the worst sex offenders held in a secure facility beyond their prison release date if, upon extensive evaluation and a unanimous jury verdict, it is determined they could strike again. Under current law, sexually violent predators are released into our communities once their sentences are finished despite the strong possibility that they will claim more victims.

Assemblyman Jim Hayes (R-Amherst), who has collected nearly 3,000 signatures for the petition drive, said, "Assembly Minority members have been discussing the need for civil confinement at numerous events for years. Majority members in the Assembly have just now decided to hold hearings on the measure. The public’s view on this issue is clear. The time for hearings has long passed. Now is the time to do the right thing to protect New York’s women and children."

Also included on the Assembly Minority petitions are proposals to strengthen New York’s Megan’s Law by tracking known sex offenders’ whereabouts, prohibiting them from living near schools and school grounds, providing more information about sexual predators to communities and requiring lifetime registration of offenders on the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

Assemblywoman Dierdre "Dede" Scozzafava (R,C,WF,I-Gouverneur), Chairwoman of the S.A.V.E.-NY Assembly Minority Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women, said, "Many communities have begun to pass their own legislation to deal with sex offenders, which tells me that we have not done enough on the state level. The problem with localities passing their own measures is twofold. First, we will be left with a confusing patchwork of local laws that do not conform to one another. Second, we run the risk of counties that do not take action being identified as havens for these criminals. We need to pass uniform, statewide legislation so that everyone is on the same page and our women and children are protected to the utmost."

Assemblyman David G. McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick), Vice Chairman of the S.A.V.E.-NY Assembly Minority Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women said, "It is the responsibility of government to ensure the safety of all of its citizens, and this legislation would provide parents and law enforcement with the tools they need to accomplish that. Preventing sexual predators from living near places where children learn and play is just plain common sense, and so are our other proposals that would give communities more information about sex offenders and keep track of their whereabouts. And on the top of our must do list is civil confinement which would keep a small but extremely dangerous group of sex offenders away from the public where they belong."

Vincent Scala, a criminal lawyer and the cousin of Concetta "Connie" Russo-Carriero, who was murdered by a convicted sexual predator, also spoke at today’s press conference. Paroled Level 3 Sex Offender Phillip Grant stabbed Russo-Carriero to death on June 29th in the parking garage of the Galleria Mall in White Plains. Mr. Scala said, "The shocking murder of my cousin underscores the fact that there are vicious predators living among us. More must be done to protect our communities from being victimized by these dangerous criminals."

In the absence of stronger statewide laws to protect children from convicted sex offenders, numerous localities have had to take matters into their own hands. Recently, media across New York State have been inundated with stories of local governments looking for new ways to protect citizens from sex offenders who have been released into their communities.

The City of Binghamton recently enacted a law preventing sex offenders from living or being within one-quarter mile of a school, day care center, playground or park. In Westchester County, satellite tracking devices were recently put into use to monitor freed sex offenders. In the Capital Region, Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties are all eyeing local legislation to help protect residents from sex offenders.

Assembly Minority members propose the following measures to protect women and children from sex offenders:

• Prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of a school or school grounds. (A.1654)

• Civil Confinement of sexually violent predators in a secure facility beyond their prison release date if, upon extensive evaluation and a unanimous jury verdict, it is determined they could strike. (A.2693)

• Require the most dangerous sex offenders to wear electronic devices linked to Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites in order to monitor their whereabouts. (A.8158)

• Expand the information available about sex offenders on the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ website to include information on all registered offenders. (A.1701)

• Require law enforcement to release information on Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders - those at the highest risk of committing additional crimes - to vulnerable populations in the community. (A.1654)