BUFFALO, N.Y. — Despite the current turmoil in Albany surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state lawmakers are setting sights on criminal justice reform.
There are currently two bills being debated that would change the state's parole system. Namely the Elder Parole Act & the Fair and Timely Parole Act both sponsored by downstate senators.
In the legislation, the Elder Parole Act would allow any incarcerated person 55 or older who has served 15 or more years in prison to be considered for parole. If it's not granted, the parole board must reconsider parole eligibility within two years.
The Fair and Timely Parole Act would make it so the Board of Parole can use discretionary release, which means incarcerated people who are eligible for parole should be released unless the person presents a current and unreasonable risk or a risk that cannot be mitigated by parole supervision.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn told 2 On Your Side he does not support the legislation.
"If they both pass, and the governor signs both of these pieces of legislation, and you merge them together, they are disastrous," he said.
In response to the Elder Parole Act, Flynn said one of his concerns is that people who have been sentenced to 15 or more years in prison committed serious offenses.
"The only people who are getting 15 or more years, are murderers, rapists, child sex offenders, etcetera. Those are the people that we are talking about here, who are now going to be eligible for parole at age 55, no matter what the judge gave them," Flynn continued.
Flynn also noted that if the Elder Parole Act is passed, Altemio Sanchez, also known as the "Bike Path Rapist," who is currently 63 years old, would be eligible for parole, among other high-profile criminals in the state.
2 On Your Side reached out to both State Senator Gustavo Rivera and State Senator Brad Hoylman, who sponsored the legislation for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The Elder Parole Act legislation states, "The perpetual confinement of aging and elderly people is particularly immoral as studies show that re-arrest rates for older adults released from prison are vanishingly small, particularly for those originally convicted of serious crimes."
The Fair and Timely Parole Act states, "The Board's failure to grant parole to low risk incarcerated individuals results in expensive, prolonged, and unnecessary incarceration of middle aged and older incarcerated individuals who have a very low probability of recidivism and who are very expensive to incarcerate because of high medical costs upon aging.
"This bill would require the Board of Parole to release people to community supervision when their minimum period of incarceration has been served, unless there is a clearly articulated current public safety reason to keep them in prison."
The People’s Campaign for Parole Justice, a state-wide campaign for parole reform supports both pieces of legislation and disagrees with Flynn. The group is calling on lawmakers in Albany to pass them.
A press release stated, the bills will ensure that people in prison have meaningful opportunities for individualized consideration for parole release based on who they are today, what they have done to change, and whether they pose a risk if released.