New York State Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell and the New York Public Library honored children who completed the “Second Annual Community Reading Challenge” at the first two “Winter Book Festivals” held at the Bloomingdale and George Bruce Branch Libraries on Friday, March 11, 2005. (The third festival was held at the Morningside Branch on April 1, 2005).

Joined by special guests - author, Chris Raschka and illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg - all of the participating children were taught how stories and pictures are created, and were awarded Certificates of Merit and served refreshments from Assembly Member O’Donnell.

Later this spring, all of the book reviews and drawings that were submitted by participants will be featured on the New York State Assembly website under the link to “O’Donnell’s Kids.” Each page will feature the original artwork and text submitted by each child, so that parents, classmates, teachers and neighbors will have a chance to view their contributions.

New York State’s most recent death penalty statute was enacted by the New York State Legislature on March 7th, 1995 and became effective on September 1st of that year. The statute, as amended, provided for the imposition of the death penalty, life imprisonment without parole or life imprisonment with the possibility of parole for thirteen specific categories of intentional murder, created judicial procedures for imposing and reviewing death sentences, established a system of public defense for indigent death penalty defendants and implemented correctional system procedures for housing death row inmates and imposing death sentences.

On June 24th, 2004, in what Assembly Member O’Donnell hailed as a welcomed decision, the New York Court of Appeals in People v. LaValle invalidated the “deadlock instruction” provision of New York’s death penalty law, holding that the instruction created a “substantial risk of coercing jurors into sentencing a defendant to death” in violation of the Due Process clause of the New York State Constitution. The Court also held that the absence of any deadlock instruction would be constitutionally impermissible and that the Court was not judicially empowered to create a new deadlock instruction. The Court thus found that “under the present statute, the death penalty may not be imposed” under New York law, but that first degree murder prosecutions could continue to go forward as non-capital cases under the current statute. As noted above, New York’s current first degree murder law authorizes a sentence of life imprisonment without parole to be imposed in any case.

The jury deadlock instruction was first proposed by Governor Pataki in program legislation which was passed by the Senate prior to the final legislative agreement on the death penalty (S-2649 of 1995). The Governor’s deadlock instruction proposal was later included in the final death penalty law enacted by the New York State Legislature on March 7th, 1995.

New York’s death penalty law was in effect for slightly less than nine years before it was struck down this past June. In that time, it is estimated that the state and local governments have spent approximately $170 million administering the statute. Not a single person has been executed in New York since the law’s enactment. Seven persons have been sentenced to death. Of these: the first four sentences to reach the Court of Appeals were struck down on various grounds; an additional sentence was converted to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole after the LaValle decision; and two death sentences are awaiting review.

This statute has remained highly controversial since its enactment and continues to be roundly criticized. When Assembly Member O’Donnell took office in 2003, he made a commitment to this community, that he would be an advocate for a moratorium on the death penalty in New York State. The question of whether the statute should now be revived, and, if so, in what form, has been the subject of intense interest and debate since the Court of Appeals decision in LaValle, and Assembly Member O’Donnell seized the opportunity that was presented by this decision to be one of the first Members of the Assembly to stand up and call for public hearings regarding this controversial issue. These hearings were subsequently scheduled and chaired by Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol, Judiciary Committee Chair Helene Weinstein and Correction Committee Chair Jeffrion Aubry, who have all demonstrated a real commitment to the Assembly’s call for public dialogue on the future of capital punishment in New York State.

Assembly Member O’Donnell attended each of the five hearings held in Albany and in New York City, which began early in the mornings and did not end until early evenings. These public forums were utilized by dozens of representatives from law enforcement, victims’ rights organizations and religious and human rights groups to review what New York’s experience with the death penalty over the past nine years has been and what that experience has taught us. These were intended to solicit views on how the experience of other states, the federal government and other nations can help inform New York’s actions (or lack thereof) on this issue. Assembly Member O’Donnell has reported that the overwhelming majority of witnesses at the hearings were opposed to reinstating the death penalty, and he and his colleagues have received hundreds of letters of opposition to the death penalty, thanks in large part to the tremendous organizing skills and hard work of “New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.” These hearings were intended to foster a public dialogue on the ultimate question of whether New York’s death penalty law should be reinstated and, if so, what form any new law should take. Assembly Member O’Donnell said that this goal was reached, and it has become even more clear to him, and more importantly to some of his colleagues who previously supported the 1995 statute and 2001 amendments, that, in fact, the current laws do not provide appropriate safeguards to ensure that innocent persons would not be convicted and subject to the death penalty and reaffirmed the mounting evidence that New York’s death penalty or the death penalty in general has not deterred intentional murder more effectively than other sentencing options. Assembly Member O’Donnell also noted that those very colleagues, since the conclusion of the hearings, have amended their original positions on this statute, and have publicly stated that they will not vote for the reinstatement of the death penalty.

Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell questions expert witnesses at January 2005 Public Hearing on the Death Penalty in Albany

“It is extremely important that all of you - the original progressive, anti-death penalty advocates in our community - continue to apply pressure on all of the ultimate decisionmakers in Albany to refuse to allow the reinstatement of capital punishment in New York State,” Assembly Member O’Donnell said. “I continue to rely on the wonderful show of support and commitment to this issue that my constituents have so impressively demonstrated to make my voice heard on this literal ‘life or death’ issue.”

On February 15, an act to amend the insurance law in relation to health insurance benefits for domestic partners (A.2224) passed in the New York State Assembly. This bill, introduced by Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell, prevents insurers and health plans from refusing to provide domestic partner coverage to individuals and smaller employer groups. Current law and regulations permit insurers, non-profit health plans and HMO’s to offer this vital coverage. However, Assembly Member O’Donnell discovered that many of these entities, even at the request of employers, still refuse to provide this coverage for employees. This legislation would remedy this disparity and would ensure that employer groups and individuals cannot be denied the request that their health plans provide equal benefits for qualified domestic partners.