Monday, April 14, 1997

2803 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 April 14, 1997 11 3:08 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS, President 19 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25 2804 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 come to order. 4 Would everyone please rise and 5 join with me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage joined 7 in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 The invocation today will be 9 given by Reverend Peter G. Young from Blessed 10 Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing. 11 Reverend Young. 12 REVEREND PETER G. YOUNG: Let us 13 pray. 14 We pray today for all New York 15 State people and that their wealth and their 16 power might become a force for peace rather than 17 conflict, a source of hope rather than 18 discontent, an agent of friendship rather than 19 enmity. 20 May the actions of this Senate, 21 then, set the example for the citizens of our 22 state. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Amen. 24 Thank you. 25 The reading of the Journal. 2805 1 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 2 Sunday, April 13. The Senate met pursuant to 3 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, April 12, 4 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 5 adjourned. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Without 7 objection, the Journal stands approved as read. 8 Presentation of petitions. 9 Messages from the Assembly. 10 Messages from the Governor. 11 Reports of standing committees. 12 Reports of select committees. 13 Communications and reports from 14 state officers. 15 Motions and resolutions. 16 Senator Farley. 17 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 18 President. 19 On behalf of Senator Volker, 20 would you please place a sponsor's star on 21 Calendar Number 349. 22 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 24 Senator Kuhl, Madam President, on page 20, I 25 offer the following amendments to Calendar 494, 2806 1 Senate Print 2705, and I ask the bill retain its 2 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 3 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 4 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 5 Senator Levy, Madam President, I wish to call up 6 his bill, Senate Print -- no, Assembly Print 7 Number -- no. It's Print Number 928A, which was 8 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at the 9 desk. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 11 will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 326, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 928A, an act 14 to amend the Railroad Law and the Penal Law. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: I now move to 16 reconsider the vote by which this bill was 17 passed. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 19 will call the roll on reconsideration. 20 (The Secretary called the roll on 21 reconsideration.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 40. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 before the house. 25 Senator Farley. 2807 1 SENATOR FARLEY: I now offer the 2 following amendments. 3 On behalf of Senator Maltese, I 4 wish to call up his bill, Print Number 1219, 5 which was recalled from the Assembly, which is 6 now at the desk. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 8 will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 174, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 1219, an 11 act to amend the Election Law. 12 SENATOR FARLEY: I now wish to 13 reconsider the vote by which this bill passed. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 15 will call the roll on reconsideration. 16 (The Secretary called the roll on 17 reconsideration.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 40. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 before the house. 21 Senator Farley. 22 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam 23 President. I now offer the following 24 amendments. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Amendments on 2808 1 both bills received. 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: On page 28, 4 Senator Johnson moves to discharge from the 5 Committee on Higher Education Assembly Bill 6 Number 937 and substitute it for the identical 7 Third Reading Calendar 576. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution 9 ordered. 10 Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 12 there will be an immediate meeting of the 13 Transportation Committee in Room 328 of the 14 Capitol. 15 THE PRESIDENT: There will be an 16 immediate meeting of the Transportation 17 Committee in Room 328. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 19 may we please take up Privileged Resolution 20 1019, sponsored by Senator Montgomery, and ask 21 that it be read in its entirety, and move for 22 its immediate adoption. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 24 will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: By Senators 2809 1 Waldon and Montgomery, Legislative Resolution 2 congratulating the Long Island University 3 Basketball Team and Coach Ray Haskins on their 4 outstanding season and on winning the 1997 5 Northeast Conference Championship. 6 Whereas, excellence and success 7 in competitive sports can be achieved only 8 through strenuous practice, team play and team 9 spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching and 10 strategic planning; and 11 Whereas, athletic competition 12 enhances the moral and physical development of 13 these young people of this state preparing them 14 for the future by instilling in them the value 15 of teamwork, encouraging a standard of healthy 16 living, imparting a desire for success, and 17 developing a sense of fair play and competition; 18 and 19 Whereas, the Long Island 20 University Basketball Team is the 1997 Northeast 21 Conference Champion; and 22 Whereas, the athletic talent 23 displayed by this team is due in great part to 24 the efforts of Coach Ray Haskins, a skilled and 25 inspirational tutor, respected for his ability 2810 1 to develop potential into excellence. 2 The team's overall record is 3 outstanding and the team members were loyally 4 and enthusiastically supported by family, fans, 5 friends and the community at large. 6 The hallmarks of the Long Island 7 University Basketball Team from the opening game 8 of the season to participation in the 9 championship were a brotherhood of athletic 10 ability, of good sportsmanship, of honor and of 11 scholarship, demonstrating that these team 12 players are second to none. 13 Athletically and academically, 14 the team members have proven themselves to be an 15 unbeatable combination of talents, reflecting 16 favorably on their school. 17 Coach Ray Haskins has done a 18 suburb job in guiding, molding and inspiring the 19 team members toward their goals; and 20 Whereas, sports competition 21 instills the values of teamwork, pride and 22 accomplishment, and Coach Ray Haskins and 11 23 outstanding athletes have clearly made a 24 contribution to the spirit of excellence which 25 is a tradition of their school; now, therefore, 2811 1 be it 2 Resolved, that this Legislative 3 Body pause in its deliberations to congratulate 4 the Long Island University Basketball Team; its 5 members: Corey Goodall, Dave Masciale, Shawn 6 Browne, Charles Jones, Richie Parker, Mike 7 Campbell, Jason Cragan, Matt Picinic, Omar 8 Noureddine, Karim Smith, Johnnie Drew, Coach Ray 9 Haskins, Assistant Coaches Julius Allen, Wendell 10 Saunders, Joe Palermo and Khalid Green; Athletic 11 Directors Alan Chaves and Margaret Alaimo; 12 Trainers Said Hamdan and Jayne Kitsos; Sports 13 Information Director Greg Fox; and Managers 14 Nicole Johnson, Jerri Hedrington and Ekwah 15 Haskins, on their outstanding season of overall 16 team record; and be it further 17 Resolved, that a copy of this 18 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 19 to the Long Island University Basketball Team 20 and to Coach Ray Haskins. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Montgomery, did you wish to speak on the 23 resolution? 24 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I'll yield 25 to Senator Waldon. 2812 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Montgomery yields to Senator Waldon. 3 Senator Waldon, on the 4 resolution. 5 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. 7 I really appreciate your 8 kindness, Senator Montgomery. 9 There was a time in my life when 10 nothing counted as much as basketball. As a 11 teenager growing up in Brooklyn and playing for 12 Boys High School, there was nothing that I would 13 not sacrifice for to play that game. 14 My mother was concerned because 15 she thought I didn't eat too much. That is now 16 a thing of the past. My father was concerned 17 because he didn't think I concentrated 18 sufficiently on my books. 19 And being as poor as we were - 20 being as poor as we were, they saw the key to my 21 escaping Patchen Avenue in Brooklyn as 22 education. But I had the dream that every young 23 African-American has and had at that time to 24 play ball at a higher level; and though I did 25 not realize my dream as well as Lenny Wilkins, 2813 1 who was my partner and is now my son's God 2 father and I am his daughter's Godfather, or 3 Tommy Davis, who went on to play great baseball, 4 or Frank Thomas, who is the head of the Ford 5 Foundation, but because of the discipline and 6 friendships developed during that experience, my 7 life has been helped tremendously. 8 New York, for all too long, has 9 been devoid of a team which could capture the 10 imagination as did the Knicks in '69 and '70 and 11 '72 and '73 or as City College did with the 12 Grand Slam in '50 and '51 or St. John's during 13 its heyday or even St. Francis College at one 14 time so many years ago, or LIU under Clair Bee 15 in the '40s, when he was considered along with 16 Hank Iba and others to be one of the great 17 basketball minds of this country. 18 But this year -- this year 19 basketball was resurrected in New York City. 20 This year, a group of young men under the 21 leadership of Ray Haskins created history. They 22 resurrected basketball for LIU, and they 23 resurrected the spirit of those who live the 24 game. 25 I saw seven games in person and 2814 1 one on TV. Each game left me sitting on the 2 edge of my seat. Each game required that I take 3 Gelucel or whatever it is that you take to calm 4 your stomach, because even though the team won 5 almost all of those games, the way they won 6 sometimes made Al Waldon a nervous wreck, but I 7 want to tell you that the excitement of watching 8 Dave Masciale and Mike Campbell, Richie Parker, 9 Charlie Jones, Shawn Browne and even Omar 10 Noureddine and Karim Smith, who are here -- did 11 I get all of the names, fellas? Did I miss 12 anybody? I don't think I missed anyone who is 13 here. The excitement - 14 Seabrook says I missed him but 15 I've always missed him. The excitement of those 16 games did good for my heart, because it allowed 17 me to vicariously return to the streets of 18 Brooklyn in the early '50s, late '50s. These 19 young men and their coach under the tutelage of 20 the Provost of the school, Mrs. Haynes, have 21 given us a spirit in Brooklyn that is so nice to 22 be a part of. 23 And so, it was with this spirit 24 that Senator Montgomery and Assemblyman Green 25 and I decided that we had to do something to 2815 1 recognize them. We brought the West Pointers in 2 here. We brought other people here who have 3 achieved significantly, from the state of New 4 York. These young men made all of us happy, 5 brought all of us pride and showed us that 6 someone can meld together a group of young men, 7 in a sense, in terms of focus and achievement 8 that is magnificent to behold. 9 So I am privileged and honored to 10 be the person along with others who sponsored 11 this resolution and to be a part of this 12 experience. It made me a happier person this 13 past year, and I am sure that this is just the 14 beginning. So I'm considering buying a portable 15 television to put in my office so that whenever 16 LIU plays anywhere in the country I will be able 17 to follow those games. 18 Ray, my brother, you did it. To 19 each of the players, you did it. 20 Now, let me tell you just about 21 three of the players who are here. Richie 22 Parker, tremendous jumper. You wouldn't think a 23 kid 6'-4" could jump the way he does. But he 24 has hops similar to anybody in the NBA, and he 25 showed us that tenacity and courage and 2816 1 commitment to the game proves that you can be a 2 winner. 3 Dave Masciale has the biggest 4 heart I've every seen for a man less than 6'-5" 5 tall. This kid from Hoboken ran through brick 6 walls in order to ensure that the team had 7 success while on the floor. Tremendous leader. 8 And Charles Jones. You've heard 9 of Dr. "J". You've heard of "Clyde, the 10 Glide". You've heard of Michael Jordan. Get 11 ready for the future, ladies and gentlemen, 12 because we have a kid who, athletically and his 13 understanding of the game, is art and poetry in 14 motion. I saw him do some things that in a 360 15 sense -- those of you who understand the game, 16 "helicopter moves 360" -- that I've not seen 17 any other human being do. He is a pleasure to 18 watch. He is a super, super player. And we 19 have in our chamber today, the highest scorer in 20 the nation this past year in NCAA ball, Division 21 I, a kid from Brooklyn. 22 So let's put our hands together, 23 please, for the Long Island University 24 Basketball Team, led by Charles Jones, Richie 25 Parker, Dave Masciale, Mike Campbell, Shawn 2817 1 Browne, et al, et al, et al, Coach Haskins and 2 our dear Provost Haynes. 3 Please. 4 (Applause) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Montgomery, did you wish to speak on the 7 resolution? 8 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Montgomery, on the resolution. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. I rise to join my colleague who 13 has the advantage that I don't have of having a 14 very personalized relationship with the coach as 15 well as the game, but I certainly do have a very 16 good and what I believe to be very positive 17 relationship with Long Island University which 18 is about a block and a half from my district 19 office. There are many great things about LIU, 20 including the fact that we have an African 21 American woman who is the provost there, Provost 22 Gail Haynes, who is here with us today, along 23 with one of the Deans from the school who is 24 also an African-American woman. So that is 25 something to be especially proud of for a major 2818 1 university in our state. 2 We also know that the state has 3 invested in LIU because last year -- we have a 4 particular investment. Last year we were able 5 to provide some assistance to the university for 6 a new building that has already gone up. I have 7 visited that building several times. It's the 8 new health professions building, I believe. 9 And, in fact, I serve on an advisory committee 10 for the nursing program which is supposed to be 11 giving some support and direction for the 12 development of new nursing careers which will be 13 offered at that university. 14 And, in fact, Long Island 15 University is one of the major adult education 16 centers in the borough of Brooklyn and I dare 17 say in the city of New York which has a large 18 number of people who are returning to school or 19 they are going to school for the first time to 20 receive any number of opportunities, including 21 certificates in various fields and as well as 22 degrees in other fields. There are large 23 numbers of women there, Caribbean-Americans, 24 African-Americans, Latinos and others. 25 And so I'm very, very proud of 2819 1 the legacy and the contribution of Long Island 2 University; and today, of course, is another 3 reason to be exceptionally proud and that is 4 that LIU has brought to us once again a group of 5 young people, bright, young, very, very 6 mannerable, very wonderful young men who are, 7 I'm told, the Blackbirds, who are being 8 recognized by us today, especially because of 9 their outstanding performance this past season. 10 But it is a very, very prideful 11 moment to be able to recognize young African 12 American men, in particular, who are making a 13 contribution to society in a very significant 14 way that goes far beyond their being a member of 15 this team. They do not just represent their 16 team. They represent that university, and they 17 represent what for us in New York State is most 18 important and that is what our future portends 19 as they grow up and go out into the world and 20 hopefully come to take our places. 21 And I want to say, just lastly, 22 to Coach Haskins, you are certainly to be 23 commended because it is not easy to be a person 24 who takes on building character and building 25 "teamship" and building the lives of young 2820 1 people, especially young African-American men in 2 this society. 3 So we thank you not only for your 4 victory as it relates to your team this year but 5 we thank you for the tremendous investment in 6 what New York State needs the most and that is 7 success in bringing young men into the world so 8 that they will be able to provide the leadership 9 that we all wish and hope to look forward to 10 ourselves. 11 Thank you very much, Mr. 12 President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 14 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 15 resolution? 16 Senator Paterson. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. 19 On behalf of Senator Connor and 20 the entire conference, we would like to thank 21 Senator Waldon and Senator Montgomery for this 22 idea of bringing this resolution forward today. 23 Senator Waldon -- I could not 24 help, Mr. President, hearing him say that there 25 was a thought at one point that basketball was 2821 1 the only thing on his mind as he went on to 2 become a policeman and had a distinguished 3 career beyond that in law enforcement, went to 4 law school and became an attorney, was an 5 outstanding singer, has served in the New York 6 State Assembly, in the New York State Senate, 7 the New York House of Representatives in 8 Congress in Washington, D.C., and also has been 9 a distinguished agency head in this state. I 10 suggest that there must have been a couple of 11 things on his mind while he was thinking about 12 basketball. He is also an accomplished singer, 13 contracted by a major recording industry, and 14 actually gave us the benefit of that earlier 15 this year. 16 So, Senator Waldon is a man with 17 a rare combination of skills, not the least of 18 which were his comments about what Long Island 19 University has done for New York City 20 basketball. He so aptly described the loss of 21 interest that seems to exist and just the thirst 22 in the New York fan to have some of the 23 excitement that was reminiscent of the old City 24 College days or even the old LIU days or the 25 championships of the New York Knicks in 1970 and 2822 1 '73, and I think that really was the catalyst 2 for this resolution because Senator Waldon, as 3 he so aptly put it, also felt that need to have 4 some excitement in the basketball community, and 5 I agree with him. 6 Personally, I lost interest in 7 basketball since the day I was cut from the 8 Nets; and since then, I tried to really find 9 something that inspired me, and Coach Ray 10 Haskins and all the players at LIU, who were 11 under tremendous scrutiny from the press and 12 tremendous public pressure, flourished under 13 that and had a tremendous basketball season. 14 I thought it was interesting that 15 the conference championship that was won when 16 Charles Jones drove to the basket that, 17 commenting later, Coach Haskins said that was 18 the only time that year that LIU had run that 19 play. So it's interesting that sometimes at 20 some of the most important moments some of the 21 most creative situations are developed, and I 22 think this was an important time in the history 23 of LIU as they have shown the rest of the 24 basketball college community that some of the 25 most difficult situations are actually an 2823 1 immense opportunity to flourish and to 2 demonstrate how athletics can become something 3 that is more than just playing games on a field 4 or on a court but becomes an opportunity to 5 build the human character and enhance the human 6 condition. 7 And so, I would like to thank LIU 8 for all they've done and all the players and 9 coaches for all they've done, and Senator Waldon 10 for bringing it before us so that we could give 11 you really the prompt and deserving congratula 12 tions that you have so richly earned. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Seabrook, on the resolution. 15 SENATOR SEABROOK: Mr. President, 16 it's certainly a good day today. Being an 17 alumnus of LIU makes me very proud to be here 18 for this occasion, but I think it's also good to 19 have the opportunity to compliment the Provost 20 for having the courage and the will to give 21 people a second chance, because that's what LIU 22 is all about, opportunities and second chance; 23 and certainly the Coach, Ray Haskins, should be 24 commended for following in the footsteps of 25 Benjamin Mays, making men over at LIU; and 2824 1 certainly to the team that has risen to the 2 occasion to have a sense of camaraderie and 3 esprit de corps to allow you to excel. 4 And I was so proud to have the 5 only team in New York State participating in the 6 NCAA finals -- or in the NCAA. They're Finals 7 next time; right? But in the tournament, the 8 only New York team. Syracuse and all the other 9 ones didn't make it. LIU was the only New York 10 team. 11 So certainly, today, we're 12 honored to have you here and with a tremendous 13 amount of success, and the future is certainly 14 beyond, and we're looking forward, Al, so in the 15 Final Four we will be there with LIU. 16 Congratulations. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 18 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 19 resolution? 20 Hearing none, the question is on 21 the resolution. 22 All those in favor, signify by 23 saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 Opposed, nay. 2825 1 (There was no response.) 2 The resolution is adopted. 3 Senator Waldon. Senator Waldon, 4 I'll control the applause. Thank you. 5 Coach Ray Haskins and members of 6 the team, we're very, very honored you chose to 7 come and spend some of your lifetime with us, a 8 few minutes with us. We're very pleased at your 9 successes. 10 We wish you the very best in your 11 stay here in Albany, and may you have a 12 wonderful life in the years ahead. Thank you 13 for coming and joining us. 14 Please stand and be recognized by 15 the members. 16 (Applause) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 20 If we could take up Privileged Resolution 1020, 21 sponsored by Senator Libous, I would like to 22 have the title read and move for its immediate 23 adoption. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 25 Secretary will read the title to Resolution 2826 1 Number 1020, by Senator Libous. 2 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 3 Libous, Legislative Resolution 1020, honoring 4 Wendy C. Loomis upon the occasion of her 5 designation by Broome County Chamber of Commerce 6 as the first Small Business Advocate of the 7 Year. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 question is on the resolution. 10 All those in favor, signify by 11 saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (There was no response.) 15 The resolution is adopted. 16 Senator Skelos. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 18 I believe Resolution 780 is at the desk, 19 sponsored by Senator Cook. May we please have 20 it read in its entirety. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 22 will read the Resolution 780, previously adopted 23 by this body, by Senator Cook, in its entirety. 24 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Cook, 25 Legislative Resolution 780, commending five 2827 1 students upon the occasion of their designation 2 as recipients of the first "American Dream 3 Awards, School-to-Work Scholarships" and 4 honoring three teachers for their commitment to 5 our youth. 6 Whereas, it is the sense of this 7 Legislative Body that work force development and 8 lifelong learning are synonymous with economic 9 prosperity in this state; and 10 Whereas, parents, educators and 11 representatives of the business community must 12 be engaged as partners at both the state and 13 local level in discussions to establish the 14 academic standards necessary to best prepare 15 students for the careers of tomorrow; and 16 Whereas, resources must be 17 aligned to assure that all students have access 18 to educational opportunities which prepare them 19 for the workplace of the 21st century. 20 Students must be prepared for the 21 broadest range of career options to enable them 22 to enter and reenter the world of work at 23 several points during their lifetime. 24 Students must see the relevance 25 of their academic learning to the workplace of 2828 1 today and tomorrow. 2 School-to-work is the bridge to 3 success between high academic learning and 4 productive citizenship; and 5 Whereas, students recognized by 6 the "American Dream Award" have participated in 7 school-to-work and are themselves better 8 prepared to be among tomorrow's productive 9 workers and citizens; now, therefore, be it 10 Resolved, that this Legislative 11 Body pause in its deliberations to commend 12 students Michele Barber of Falconer Central 13 School, Robert Brinskelle of Half Hollow Hills 14 Central School District, Octavio Campos of 15 Wilson Technological Center-Northport Campus, 16 Nyasia Harvey of Rochester City School District, 17 and Sheldon Rankin of Niagara Falls High School, 18 as recipients of the first "American Dream 19 Awards, School-to-Work Scholarship"; and 20 Whereas, teachers and business 21 mentors are significant partners in the 22 School-to-Work experience; now, therefore, be it 23 further 24 Resolved, that Cohoes High School 25 teacher Maria Russo, Greece Central School 2829 1 District teacher Larry Lacy, and business mentor 2 Jack Lyda from Rochester General Hospital, be 3 recognized for their commitment to school 4 to-work principles and practices; and be it 5 further 6 Resolved, that copies of this 7 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 8 to Cynthia T. Laks and Margarita S. Mayo, 9 co-chairs of the New York State School-to-Work 10 Advisory Council and Michelle Barber, Robert 11 Brinskelle, Octavio Campos, Nyasia Harvey, 12 Sheldon Rankin, Maria Russo, Larry Lacy and Jack 13 Lyda. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 15 recognizes Senator Cook to speak to the 16 resolution. 17 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President, 18 thank you very much. 19 It is a great day here of 20 saluting people for their accomplishments, and 21 we certainly join with all those who are 22 celebrating the success of Long Island 23 University. 24 This resolution celebrates 25 success of a different type. It probably did 2830 1 not make very many headlines. In fact, it may 2 be something that was kind of hidden in the 3 middle of the inside pages even of the hometown 4 newspapers, but it is something that is 5 extremely significant; and that is, that five 6 students of New York State have been chosen for 7 the "American Dream Scholarships" under the 8 National School-to-Work Program. 9 This is a brain child, if you 10 will, of the 1996 Miss America, Shawntel Smith, 11 who, unfortunately, I think, had to leave 12 because she had a plane to catch and, therefore, 13 wasn't able to stay for this part of the 14 tribute. 15 But it is significant that out of 16 40 of these awards made across the country, New 17 York State recipients numbered five and, in 18 addition, we are honoring three teachers or 19 mentors of students who are participating in the 20 School-to-Work Program. 21 This indeed is a wave of the 22 future. It is an effort that we are making to 23 move the education system so that it is in touch 24 with the world of reality, so that students when 25 they graduate from school will, in fact, be 2831 1 ready to go into the workplace and that, 2 furthermore, they will have the skills that will 3 enable them throughout their lifetime to 4 readjust to the career changes that are going to 5 be a part of the life of everyone over the next 6 several decades as our economy, as our society 7 continues to change and to move forward. 8 So I'm very honored to be able to 9 stand today and to, once again, congratulate 10 these winners of the "American Dream 11 Scholarships," people who have shown in their 12 own way a great degree of personal leadership, 13 shown that you have the stuff to make it in this 14 world and, in fact, that you will also be 15 leaders who will help lead your generation, your 16 cohort of our population, as we reach this new 17 millennium that we're entering and as we move 18 into the workplace of tomorrow. 19 I congratulate you personally, 20 and I say this, that you are also the pioneers, 21 the people who are breaking the new ground that 22 other people will follow as our education 23 system, hopefully, begins to catch up with the 24 demands and the needs of this new century. 25 Thank you, Mr. President. I 2832 1 think most of the recipients are with us today 2 in the gallery, and I would be pleased if you 3 would be willing to recognize them. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 5 any other Senator wishing to speak to the 6 resolution? 7 As the Chair previously 8 indicated, the resolution was previously 9 adopted. We'd ask the recipients of the 10 "American Dream Awards" scholarships to rise 11 and be recognized by the body. 12 We welcome you here today, 13 congratulate you on your effort. Good luck in 14 the future. 15 (Applause) 16 Senator Skelos. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 18 if we could return to reports of standing 19 committees, I believe there is a report of the 20 Transportation Committee at the desk. I ask 21 that it be read. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We will 23 return to the order of reports of standing 24 committees. Secretary will read the report of 25 the Transportation Committee. 2833 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Levy, 2 from the Committee on Transportation, reports 3 the following bill direct to third reading: 4 Senate Print 4329, by Senator 5 Maltese, an act to amend the Highway Law, in 6 relation to designating a portion of the state 7 highway system as the Jackie Robinson Parkway. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 9 objection, the bill is ordered directly to third 10 reading. 11 Senator Skelos. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 13 at this time, may we please take up Senate 4329, 14 which was just reported from the Transportation 15 Committee. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 17 will read the title. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 579, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 4329, an 20 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 21 designating a portion of the state highway 22 system as the Jackie Robinson Parkway. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 24 Maltese, an explanation of Calendar Number 579, 25 which is Senate Print 4329, which has just been 2834 1 reported out of the Transportation Committee, 2 has been requested. 3 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 4 first of all, I wish to acknowledge that this is 5 an event that is an historic event; and because 6 it is an historic event, I would like to precede 7 my remarks with an indication that all members 8 will be asked if they wish to go on the bill as 9 co-sponsors. 10 SENATOR CONNOR: Explanation 11 satisfactory, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 13 any other Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 14 Senator Waldon, on the bill. 15 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. President, 16 my colleagues. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Excuse 19 me, Senator Waldon. 20 Senator Skelos, why do you rise? 21 SENATOR SKELOS: If I could - 22 and, certainly, any colleague that wishes to 23 speak on this bill, I'm not looking to cut them 24 off. There will be a resolution taken up 25 concerning Jackie Robinson right after this bill 2835 1 is passed and, if members want to speak about 2 Mr. Robinson at that time, fine. 3 But, Senator Waldon, if you wish 4 to speak on the bill, that's fine also. 5 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator 7 Skelos. 8 I think what I want to say should 9 be said now. It is not negative or whatever 10 but, you know, I was moved to do it now, so let 11 me do it now. 12 When I was in the fifth grade, I 13 lived at 146 Patchen Avenue in Brooklyn. We had 14 just moved from Halsey Street, between Reid and 15 Patchen, and I had a newspaper route. Mrs. 16 Gardner was my teacher at P.S. 70, where John D. 17 King was the principal. My newspaper route took 18 me along McDonough Street between Patchen and 19 Ralph. 20 Jackie Robinson lived with Rachel 21 and their firstborn three houses in from Mr. 22 Reavis' candy store. I was his newspaper 23 delivery boy, and I was in awe of this man who 24 had so changed the world in terms of the 25 divisive elements which were known in pro sports 2836 1 until the arrival of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, 2 and he was a nice man. He was very warm with 3 the children in our block. He came over to our 4 assembly, and he spoke to all of us on assembly 5 days telling us the kinds of things that we 6 should do with our lives. 7 But the thing that caught my 8 imagination then even though I couldn't well 9 understand it and has maintained my fascination 10 with Jack Roosevelt Robinson all of my adult 11 life since then is that he was a person who 12 brought people together. Despite the hate that 13 Chapman and other managers around the league 14 foisted upon him, despite the fact that Dixie 15 Walker and other guys on his team would not even 16 speak to him or shake his hand, he took it and 17 he moved forward, trying to get people to work 18 with each other and to be accepting of each 19 other. 20 One of the great moments that I 21 remember from that period of time is that one 22 day we were in Mr. Reavis' candy store, and you 23 have to understand, and you cannot without this 24 information know that Henry Reavis, Mr. Reavis' 25 son was in my fifth grade class, so we used to 2837 1 hang out in Henry's father's store. In came 2 Jackie Robinson, and he bought ice cream cones 3 for all of the kids at that moment. I don't 4 know if you know what a mellow-roll is, but 5 those of you who grew up in Brooklyn remember 6 mellow-roll was different than a scoop of ice 7 cream. All of the kids that Jackie bought the 8 ice cream and the cone for ate theirs in its 9 entirety, except Alton. I was so fascinated 10 with what Jackie had done for me that I ate the 11 ice cream without any way messing up the cone. 12 I took it home. My mother got me a cigar box. 13 I scotchtaped the cone into the cigar box, and I 14 took it to school the next day for Show and 15 Tell, and the class was fascinated with this 16 cone that Jackie Robinson had bought me. 17 I was at the Urban League Dinner 18 in New York City some time ago, and Mrs. 19 Robinson was there with their daughter and their 20 son. Jackie Junior, as you may know, is dead, 21 but David is still alive, and I told her of the 22 story, and she thought it so fascinating she 23 went and got her children and brought them over 24 and had me tell the story again of this kid who 25 was her newspaper boy and what had happened on 2838 1 this day. 2 Mrs. Robinson is very much like 3 her husband. She wants everybody included in 4 everything that she does. If you look at the 5 board that she has for all of her construction 6 projects, if you look at her foundation and what 7 she does in helping children, it is inclusive, 8 not exclusive. 9 I share these thoughts with you 10 because I have a personal knowledge of Jackie 11 Roosevelt Robinson. I have a personal knowledge 12 of Mrs. Robinson, and I would encourage us to 13 follow the life of Jackie in the sense that he 14 was a person who wanted everybody to work 15 together for the betterment of our entire 16 society. 17 I think a lesson can be learned 18 even in this house regarding the life of Jack 19 Roosevelt Robinson, what he stood for and what 20 his wife stands for now. He is a great man. He 21 changed the social fabric of America forever, 22 and I'm pleased to join with Senator Maltese and 23 others in honoring him in regard to naming of 24 the parkway in his name and whatever other 25 praise that we may be able to lend to the name 2839 1 of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson. Truly, not just 2 an African-American, born in Georgia, raised in 3 California, who made his mark through sports but 4 an American who was a giant in terms of causing 5 people to come together. If there is a legacy 6 from Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, it is that he 7 brought people together. 8 Thank you very much, Mr. 9 President. Thank you, my colleagues. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Gold. 12 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you so 13 much. 14 Will Senator Maltese yield to one 15 question? 16 SENATOR MALTESE: Yes. 17 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, I was 18 listening to Senator Waldon's remarks and, 19 unquestionably, if there was one thing that 20 Jackie Robinson stood for, it was inclusion. It 21 has, as he said, changed the fabric of American 22 society. 23 I was wondering -- and this is my 24 question -- when you stood up today, you 25 graciously asked if everybody or anybody was 2840 1 interested in co-sponsoring the bill, and my 2 question is whether or not it's going to be 3 reprinted? 4 Because I say to myself the 5 Robinson family upon what I know will be a lot 6 of pomp and circumstance of the signing of this 7 bill will probably get a pen certificate, and I 8 wonder how they're going to explain to their 9 grandchildren that that pen certificate will 10 have the names of I think it's seven very 11 distinguished white gentlemen, when this Senate 12 has some very distinguished Afro-American 13 gentlemen, some ladies, some people from all 14 different kinds of origins, and Jackie Robinson 15 was a treasure for all of us, and I don't even 16 see anyone from Brooklyn, and I don't think you 17 can mention Jackie Robinson without thinking of 18 Brooklyn. 19 So I was just curious whether or 20 not after the buck slips are in whether there 21 was any intention to reprint the bill? 22 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 23 in response to the inquiry, I will be speaking 24 to the leadership as to the procedure. But the 25 distinguished Senator from Queens must realize 2841 1 that this was initiated by our distinguished 2 mayor from the city of New York. It was done 3 very quickly and expeditiously. It was done in 4 an atmosphere of good faith and good will. 5 It was only this afternoon that I 6 was made aware that, as is sometimes the custom, 7 it had been circulated only to a few and that we 8 then acted to open it to all, although that is 9 at the time of discussion of the bill somewhat 10 dramatic, if you will, or unusual procedure. 11 In response to the question, I 12 will use my best efforts to see that the bill 13 that is given to those persons who receive 14 copies of the bill includes all the cosponsors. 15 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Gold. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Yes, I want to 19 thank Senator Maltese for that statement of 20 gracious intent. I do appreciate it. 21 Senator, I would like, though - 22 and I know it's not your fault -- to inform the 23 house that there have been situations such as 24 "Son of Sam" where we were concerned in a 25 matter of time in passing a piece of 2842 1 legislation. We did it 48 hours with bipartisan 2 sponsorship in both houses, and these things 3 seem to be able to work out when they can be 4 worked out. 5 At any rate, I appreciate your 6 remarks, and I think that if we are that 7 concerned for the Robinson family and we are 8 trying to send a message, which we are and I 9 think it is very appropriate -- I don't think 10 there was one human in America yesterday who 11 didn't feel that "Tiger" Woods was the hero of 12 America, and I know that's the feeling that 13 people get when they talk about Jackie 14 Robinson. He belongs to all of us. 15 And I think that if what he stood 16 for is to have true meaning, then the minimum 17 cost of reprinting a one-page bill is worth it 18 so that posterity will see that it was an entire 19 Senate filled with many different kinds of 20 people that supported this legislation. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Montgomery. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 I just want to say two things. 2843 1 One is to thank Senator Maltese for at least 2 offering to have all members on this legislation 3 and, hopefully, as in following up with Senator 4 Gold's inquiry that in fact will happen. 5 I would certainly hate to see 6 this go down in history without -- not one 7 single African-American on it nor one single 8 person from Brooklyn at least on this 9 legislation, and let me just say that it would 10 be very shameful, I think, to have a person of 11 the stature of Jackie Robinson give his entire 12 life, suffer all kinds of indignities and 13 insults and acts of bigotry and racism quietly 14 just so that he could make a statement on behalf 15 of his people, and for him not to have his - 16 this act that we're doing reflective of his 17 contribution to this society, to all of us in 18 this room and outside and all Americans, I think 19 it would be the grandest insult to him and his 20 life and his legacy. 21 So, Senator Maltese, I appreciate 22 your offering, and I certainly hope that you can 23 correct this today. Thank you very much. 24 Thank you, Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Any other 2844 1 Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 2 Senator Paterson. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. Anyone who examines the history of 5 the civil rights movement in this country would 6 probably come to the conclusion that before 7 Martin Luther King there was Jackie Robinson. 8 Before some of the collective struggles that 9 were waged in places like Mississippi and 10 Alabama, there was an individual struggle waged 11 in cities like Brooklyn and St. Louis and 12 Boston, where an individual tried to win 13 acceptance in this country in spite of great 14 ability not having the requisite color that it 15 took to play in major league baseball at that 16 particular time. 17 Jackie Robinson was selected not 18 because he was the best baseball player in the 19 Negro leagues. In fact, it was known he was not 20 one of the best. He was selected because of his 21 personal acumen, his education and his ability 22 to withstand the kind of pressure and the kind 23 of degradation that coming to major league 24 baseball would bring upon him. 25 Jackie Robinson served this 2845 1 country in the military, and there's one piece 2 of his military service that isn't discussed 3 very often. He was court-martialed. He was 4 court-martialed for refusing to sit in the back 5 of a military bus. Does that sound familiar? 6 Does that sound like another American who did 7 that on December 1 of 1954? 8 What we're saying is that Jackie 9 Robinson embodies the efforts of many 10 African-Americans, both the living and the dead, 11 who struggled unremittingly and courageously 12 throughout the centuries to bring together a 13 viable national movement that was directed 14 toward achieving economic, political and social 15 justice, and it wasn't just African-Americans. 16 It was many Asians and whites and Hispanics who 17 fought collectively so that we could sit in this 18 chamber today, looking at each other and 19 noticing that all parts of this state and all 20 people who live within it are represented and 21 that they have the opportunity to even run for 22 office and be a part of this great government 23 here in New York State. 24 And so, while I am thankful for 25 Senator Maltese' graciousness and that he would 2846 1 open this piece of legislation for cosponsor 2 ship, I just happen to notice what Senator 3 Gold's referred to earlier as a list of 4 individuals that were not indicative of the 5 cross-section of this body when I got here this 6 morning. But I did notice that when the 7 Assembly bill that -- seeing that Republican or 8 Democrat, black or white, whichever delineation 9 there was, Brooklyn or Queens or otherwise, that 10 they had members of their body that were 11 represented. 12 How much more foresighted would 13 it have been if the drafters of this legislation 14 had immediately understood the full historical 15 meaning of Jackie Robinson's presence in major 16 league baseball. 17 In 1947, he came to the Brooklyn 18 Dodgers. Interestingly enough, he preceded 19 another baseball player who played in the 20 American League by the name of Larry Doby by 21 only six weeks. Now, Larry Doby is not well 22 known to people around the country but endured 23 the same suffering. 24 So Jackie Robinson, when we honor 25 him, we're really honoring all the people whose 2847 1 names we don't know, whose struggles we could 2 never endure, whose pain we would never 3 experience, but somehow fought through it all 4 because they believed in America. Many of us 5 wave the flag, many of us salute the flag and 6 many of us pay homage to it; but how often do we 7 actually practice what is inscribed in those 8 words that we say before session every day? 9 It is interesting to love 10 America, but, too often, we don't love 11 Americans, and it's interesting that this 12 American came forward at a time when this 13 country so needed it, and from his struggle, he 14 won the Rookie of the Year in the National 15 League in 1947, became the first 16 African-American to play in the World Series 17 that year, and was then asked to speak before 18 Congress afterward. He was not the first 19 African-American to win a World Series ring. 20 That was Larry Doby in 1948 playing for the 21 Cleveland Indians. 22 And so, after his service in 23 major league baseball, Jackie Robinson went on 24 to serve in the government, served in the 25 government of this state under the Republican 2848 1 Governor Rockefeller, who saw the opportunity 2 through this unique individual, a chance to give 3 him an opportunity to give to this state all 4 that he had learned and all that he had taught 5 in his time as a baseball player. He was 6 certainly one of the great minds of his time and 7 died prematurely at the age of 54, probably from 8 some of the stress produced by a contract he 9 signed not to make any public comment on some of 10 the circumstances that he went through during 11 his first three years in the major leagues. 12 I would certainly hope that we 13 would listen to the last public words that were 14 known to have been spoken by Jackie Robinson at 15 the 1972 World Series, when, in throwing out the 16 first ball, he made the comment, "I don't think 17 I will rest peacefully until I look down the 18 lines of the baseball field and see an 19 African-American manager managing a team." He 20 never saw that. 21 And so that is the reason, I 22 think, that Senator Gold and Senator Montgomery 23 and others raise this issue today not for any 24 partisanship or politicizing of an historical 25 moment but to try to bring clarity and to try to 2849 1 bring meaning to something that perhaps, even in 2 the '90s, we still somewhat misunderstand. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Maltese has offered the opportunity to members 5 of the chamber to join as cosponsors. Would 6 those people who would like to be cosponsors of 7 the bill, please raise their hands. 8 It looks as though most of the 9 members, not all of them -- we'll leave it that 10 we'll put on all the members on the bill, 11 Senator Skelos, except for those people who 12 indicate - 13 SENATOR SKELOS: There is a 14 process where a form has to be filled and given 15 to the sponsors. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: It just 17 was going to make it easier. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: We ask each 19 member to do that. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Okay. 21 Secretary will read the last 22 section. 23 Senator Gold. 24 SENATOR GOLD: I'm not trying to 25 slow this down. I sent a young man from my 2850 1 office to the desk, and we were told we couldn't 2 get a slip because everyone was being put on it, 3 so at least - 4 SENATOR SKELOS: We will make 5 sure that everybody has a slip. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Yes, 7 that's what we're doing, Senator Gold, just 8 trying to facilitate the process. 9 Secretary will read the last 10 section. Senator Markowitz, why do you rise? 11 SENATOR MARKOWITZ: On the bill. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Markowitz, on the bill. 14 SENATOR MARKOWITZ: Senator 15 Maltese, I have little recollection of Jackie 16 Robinson. My older twin brother does; and 17 having admitted that, nonetheless, growing up 18 two blocks away from Ebbets Field, going on the 19 roof of my apartment building because even in 20 those days at times it was rough to pay to get 21 in, although those of us that knew Ebbets Field 22 knew how to sneak in, and that's the truth - 23 for those of the older generation. 24 The excitement of witnessing a 25 game of Jackie Robinson, it was among the most 2851 1 exciting experiences that a young man could have 2 and a young woman, and it's days that all of us 3 that live in Brooklyn can never forget, that 4 were blessed -- that were lucky to have lived 5 during that time. 6 The excitement of walking down 7 Empire Boulevard and Bedford Avenue, waiting 8 outside -- Senators, some of you may remember - 9 waiting outside for those batting practices to 10 occur, catching balls if we were lucky enough, 11 and the excitement of seeing one of America's 12 greatest sports people performing beyond belief 13 and being the first of color. 14 It's only natural that that 15 should have occurred in Brooklyn. It's only 16 natural because Brooklyn always leads the way of 17 good things in the state of New York and 18 throughout the nation. 19 I think today of some of those 20 baseball players that earn more in one game than 21 Jackie Robinson ever earned in his life, to 22 think that many of them have little time for 23 their fans. They run. After the game is over, 24 they run as fast as they can. Few of them live 25 in the area that they play in. Those days that 2852 1 we knew of Jackie Robinson residing in our 2 borough, being a part of the fabric of Brooklyn, 3 all the good things and being a true role model 4 to young people, those days are gone but the 5 memories are not gone. 6 So I'm delighted, Senator 7 Maltese, that a part of Brooklyn -- and I have a 8 hunch that Interborough -- does it go into the 9 other borough? If I'm not mistaken, it goes 10 into the borough that we call Queens. Am I 11 right? 12 So from Kings, it meanders into 13 the borough of Queens, but I'm real pleased that 14 the name of this tremendous sportsman will be 15 there for all to see of my generation. 16 And for younger generations that 17 weren't lucky enough, I hope we'll raise the 18 question, Senator Montgomery, "Who is Jackie 19 Robinson and why is this major highway in our 20 city named after this great baseball player?" 21 And if that is accomplished, then 22 our action this afternoon is one that will be 23 positive for the years to come. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 25 Secretary will read the last section. 2853 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 8 is passed. 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 11 could we at this time take up a privileged 12 resolution 982, sponsored by Senator Johnson, 13 ask that it be read in its entirety and move for 14 its immediate adoption. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Return to 16 the order of motions and resolutions. Secretary 17 will read a resolution introduced by Senator 18 Johnson, in its entirety. 19 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 20 Johnson, Legislative Resolution 982, paying 21 tribute to Jackie Robinson, major league base 22 ball's first African-American baseball player, 23 upon the 50th Anniversary of his first game. 24 WHEREAS, it is the sense of this 25 legislative body to commemorate individuals of 2854 1 historical significance who have contributed to 2 the richness and ethnic diversity of New York 3 State and our nation; and 4 WHEREAS, Jack Roosevelt Robinson, 5 or "Jackie", as he was known, was born on 6 January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia; and 7 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was 8 major league baseball's first player of color in 9 modern times. He was an athlete of outstanding 10 physical skills and a burning single-minded 11 desire for victory. He played his first major 12 league game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 13 15, 1947. The Dodgers played the Boston Braves 14 and defeated them by a score of 5 to 3, and 15 WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson, a 16 versatile athlete, also excelled in football and 17 track while in college at the University of 18 California in Los Angeles. While playing with 19 the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National 20 League, he was signed to a major league baseball 21 contract by Branch Rickey and assigned to the 22 Dodgers' Montreal farm team of the International 23 League in 1946; and 24 WHEREAS, in 1947, Jackie Robinson 25 joined the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National 2855 1 League at the age of 28, he hit .297, scored 125 2 runs and led the league in stolen bases (29) as 3 the Dodgers won their first pennant since 1941. 4 He was named "Rookie of the Year". He was 5 instrumental in leading the team to six World 6 Series appearances in ten years; and 7 WHEREAS, although he was 8 primarily a second baseman, he was an 9 outstanding fielder. In 1949, he was named Most 10 Valuable Player. He led the league in batting 11 (.342) and stolen bases (37), scoring 122 runs, 12 batting in 124 runs and amassing 203 hits, and 13 WHEREAS, in 1962, Jackie Robinson 14 was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, a 15 fitting climax to an illustrious career that 16 triumphed over adversity and led the way for 17 other African-American baseball players to 18 emulate; 19 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED 20 that on April 15, 1997, this legislative body 21 pause in its deliberations to pay tribute to 22 Jackie Robinson, major league baseball's first 23 African-American player, upon the occasion of 24 the 50th Anniversary of his first game; and 25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that 2856 1 copies of this resolution, suitably engrossed, 2 be transmitted to his wife Mrs. Rachel Robinson, 3 the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the National 4 League Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New 5 York. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Johnson, on the resolution. 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. President, 9 as the resolution indicated, it's 50 years 10 tomorrow since Jackie Robinson integrated the 11 major leagues and became the first Afro-American 12 to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Contrary to 13 what you've heard here today, it wasn't only 14 people from Brooklyn who had pride in "Dem Bums" 15 as they called them. Even farm boys in Suffolk 16 County were Dodger fans in those days, and I 17 certainly was one. Though I wasn't here -- I 18 was away in the Marine Corps -- I became very 19 aware of that and was very excited by his 20 initial performances and the fact that they won 21 the -- he was Rookie of the Year in '47, Most 22 Valuable Player in '49 again when I was home, 23 and he was a great star and a great person, I 24 thought, a great personality, and he helped the 25 Dodgers win their first pennant since 1941. 2857 1 I think it was -- it was, shall I 2 say, strange after being in the service with men 3 of various races to find that there was no black 4 baseball player in the major leagues at that 5 time. It didn't occur to me, but when he came 6 there he was like a breath of fresh light and a 7 breath of fresh inspiration to a lot of other 8 people. 9 I think it's been alluded to here 10 already by some members about his struggle off 11 the field as well as on the field, and it's 12 certainly true, he was very active, as I noticed 13 when I was in the service that some people had 14 to go to the back of the bus, and it seemed so 15 unfair, and he was one of the men that helped to 16 change those rules, and I think it's very 17 admirable. 18 He certainly did a lot for his 19 race by not only enduring that, combatting it, 20 but holding his head high through the process of 21 being the best possible baseball player he could 22 be and certainly a role model to a lot of other 23 Americans of other ages, races and religions, 24 and he's really been admired for his courage and 25 his wisdom as much as for his baseball skill 2858 1 since the true story of Jackie Robinson has come 2 out over the years. 3 We saw yesterday, I think, 4 another young man, Afro-Asian-American, if 5 that's the right way to say it, "Tiger" Woods, 6 who is another role model for this generation of 7 young people and, of course, I'm talking about 8 the man who broke the barrier yesterday by being 9 the first non-white to win the Masters in 10 Atlanta. It was really an inspiring thing, and 11 it really shows that we are becoming one 12 nation. We are becoming open to all. It is 13 all-inclusive despite what some people might 14 say, that everyone has an opportunity in 15 America. 16 It's a wonderful thing; it's a 17 timely thing and something that's long overdue, 18 and I think that persons like Jackie and "Tiger" 19 Woods have really shown the way, so I'm really 20 very proud to sponsor this resolution and have 21 it sponsored by everyone in this house. As you 22 know, you're all on it. 23 I think it's a great inspiration 24 to our young people that we do have an open 25 society, that opportunity is there and that 2859 1 Jackie Robinson, we're honored today has helped 2 to lead the way, and I will be down at 3 Cooperstown to present the citation, the 4 resolution passed, to Mrs. Robinson in a few 5 months when the ceremony takes place, and I 6 invite others to be there if they'd like to. It 7 certainly will be a wonderful day and, after 8 all, baseball is a New York State game. We have 9 the Hall of Fame in our state and we should be 10 very proud of Jackie and all the things we're 11 doing together today to honor his memory, both 12 the naming of the road, the resolution, and so 13 forth. As you know, it's being taken up right 14 now by Clarence Norman in the other house, and 15 he will be there with me, I hope, at the 16 presentation. 17 Thank you all very much. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Leichter. 20 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 21 thank you. 22 I think we've had some really 23 very moving and wonderful words here today about 24 what Jackie Robinson has meant to the nation and 25 to our society, and I was particularly touched 2860 1 by the very eloquent words of Senator Paterson. 2 I just want to point out that 3 actually Jackie Robinson played a major league 4 game in New York before April 15th. How do I 5 know that? Because I was there. The practice 6 in those years was that the Yankees and the 7 Dodgers, as they ended their spring training, 8 would play a series in New York. I think 9 actually it was just two games, maybe one at 10 Yankee Stadium and one at Ebbets Field, and that 11 year 1947 the first game of the -- it was a 12 practice game but between major league teams in 13 New York, and it was the first appearance of 14 Jackie Robinson playing in a major league game 15 in New York City at Ebbets Field, and I went 16 there and I was a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee fan, 17 but I went there to root for Jackie Robinson. I 18 still remember he went 0-for-4 but he did drive 19 in a run with a long fly to left field. It was 20 really a memorable day obviously, and I just 21 wish I'd kept the score card. 22 But what I also think we need to 23 point to is that we've seen enormous changes in 24 our society since 1950, all to the good, and 25 people like Jackie Robinson who are really 2861 1 catalysts for these much needed changes, and I 2 think it's wonderful that this chamber 3 recognizes these changes, that the whole nation 4 does, that the President, as I understand, is 5 going to come to New York for this occasion. 6 But I think it also needs to be 7 an affirmation by us that the job is certainly 8 not finished of achieving equality for all our 9 citizens. It's certainly for African-Americans 10 and Hispanics and others who, as all the 11 statistics show, tend to have a much more 12 difficult life than the rest of us. That's 13 really what Jackie Robinson was about. You can 14 talk about his wonderful baseball skills and 15 they certainly are to be honored, but what we 16 honor really is a person that has changed the 17 society for the better and that fight, that 18 struggle, that work continues. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Lachman, on the resolution. 22 SENATOR LACHMAN: First of all, I 23 very much appreciate the honor to be a 24 co-sponsor of this resolution, and I would just 25 like to say a few words that I hope will be on 2862 1 target and give it a different dimension. 2 I happen to be of the age of 3 Senator Markowitz' older twin brother and I had 4 the pleasure as a youngster of eight or nine of 5 leaving school early and latching onto a 6 Catholic Youth Organization group that went to 7 Ebbets Field to see a Dodger game and witnessed 8 Jackie Robinson play, and it's an experience 9 that I will never forget. 10 The strength and the grace of 11 this individual, knowing afterwards even as a 12 child the insults that he endured on and off the 13 field, and the greatness of the man not only in 14 his baseball record but that he established a 15 major precedent as being the first black to play 16 in major league baseball. 17 But we should not forget the fact 18 that there were two who accomplished this, and 19 the other person who accomplished this was 20 Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn 21 Dodgers. Branch Rickey had to divest himself of 22 the prejudices of his youth and the insults of 23 many of his colleagues who were owners of major 24 league teams. As a rockribbed Methodist, he 25 relied upon his faith and he knew he did the 2863 1 right thing. Without Jackie Robinson, Branch 2 Rickey could not have appointed a black that 3 year, and without Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson 4 would not have been appointed. 5 This tells us something about our 6 society today. For America to advance into the 7 future, we have to be one nation and one people, 8 black and white together, both on and off the 9 baseball field. So in honor of Jackie Robinson 10 and the man who had the guts to appoint him and 11 make him and help him show his strength as a 12 great baseball player, I'm honored and privi 13 leged to co-sponsor this resolution. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Maltese, on the resolution. 17 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 18 in the, spirit of cooperation and not only with 19 the members across the aisle but with Senator 20 Johnson, we sought to have the debate on both 21 these related pieces of legislation together, 22 but we don't mean to in any way limit the 23 discussion and the tributes to Jackie Robinson. 24 I think that -- of course, I 25 never knew the man, but I think based on his 2864 1 actions, his heroic actions, heroic in many 2 ways, he would be pleased that in a relatively 3 few days the mayor of the city of New York acted 4 to rename a portion of a parkway, a parkway in 5 the city of New York linking Brooklyn and 6 Queens, that we in this house and the Assembly 7 put together legislation in an expeditious 8 manner, that the President of the United States 9 is visiting Shea Stadium for the first time a 10 sitting President has ever visited Shea Stadium, 11 that there will be ceremonies marking his 12 achievement of 50 years ago. 13 But it isn't only marking that 14 achievement of stepping onto a playing field, it 15 is marking his lifetime from -- from that action 16 in 1947 and his actions prior to stepping onto 17 that field. 18 I think it's been mentioned by 19 the prior Senators who spoke, and I know that 20 it's being mentioned in the Assembly now as my 21 good colleague, Jeff Aubry, has led the way in 22 his house to discuss and debate and pass this 23 historic in many ways legislation, but I think 24 it's the life that -- the life that Jackie 25 Robinson led that adds to his luster. 2865 1 Passing away at a relatively 2 young age, he still made many milestones for 3 youngsters to emulate and follow, youngsters of 4 every race, creed and color. 5 This is what we are celebrating 6 today. This is what we are commemorating today, 7 so just as Interborough, previously Interborough 8 and now Jackie Robinson Parkway, links Brooklyn 9 and Queens, that we link the historic site of 10 Ebbets Field and Shea Stadium and we link the 11 players, the ball players of 1947 with the ball 12 players of today, and the actions of this state 13 Legislature and our President and our nation and 14 our state with Governor Pataki, who has 15 indicated that he will sign this bill today, we 16 link all that as a tribute to Jackie Robinson 17 and what he stood for, and what he stood for is 18 the American way, America, our great country, 19 where the grandson of a slave could aspire to be 20 a landmark for Americans of all races, religions 21 and colors, an example for all of us to emulate 22 and a person who we know will be remembered as 23 long as baseball and Ebbets Field is remembered. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 25 Montgomery, on the resolution. 2866 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. Thank 2 you, Mr. President. Just briefly, on the 3 resolution. 4 I would like to join my 5 colleagues in thanking Senator Owen Johnson for 6 being the lead sponsor of this resolution and 7 including all of us and, once again, I would 8 just like to reiterate the significance of 9 Jackie Robinson in this society of ours and 10 taking it in a little bit different area. 11 I think he epitomizes the extreme 12 importance of the idea of having people, 13 especially youngsters, involved in sports and 14 because we know that sports teaches sportsman 15 ship and cooperation and builds character and 16 discipline for young people, in addition to them 17 building skills, and it also gives them 18 motivation to do other things and to do 19 everything that they do very well. It happens 20 in basketball and it happens in football, and it 21 happens in hockey and soccer and baseball and 22 every single sport, organized sport, and it - 23 what Jackie Robinson has done is to break open 24 the -- the area of sports in the society to 25 include every single young person, and now we 2867 1 have even have young women who are very much 2 involved in organized sports, in organized 3 athletic teams, based on the federal law Title 4 IX, and witnessed yesterday, I believe it was, 5 that the most recent outstanding contribution 6 that has been made to athletics in our society 7 was done by "Tiger" Woods who is a young 8 African-American who has broken into, so to 9 speak, the world of golf and has shown and 10 proven that it does not matter the color or it 11 does not matter even the age, it just matters 12 that if you have all of those qualifications 13 that I mentioned before as a sportsman, you can 14 compete successfully and compete very well. 15 So for that, we owe a great debt 16 to Jackie Robinson's contribution and I might 17 add that I believe the legacy that Robinson has 18 left for us is that we should invest in 19 athletics, in sports for our schools, for after 20 school and for communities, so that young people 21 can indeed at least compete and have an 22 opportunity to develop all of those skills that 23 are so important as it relates to organized 24 sports. 25 So thank you, Senator Johnson. 2868 1 Recognizing Jackie Robinson means so much more 2 even than the wonderful history of Jackie 3 Robinson. I think it means for us additionally 4 it gives us a path to -- for, as a Legislature, 5 for us to pursue in our attempt to address the 6 needs of young people in this state and nation. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 9 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 10 resolution? Hearing none, the question is on 11 the resolution. All those in favor signify by 12 saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed nay. 15 (There was no response. ) 16 The resolution is unanimously 17 adopted. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 if we could take up the non-controversial 21 calendar at this time. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 23 will read the non-controversial calendar. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 357, by 25 Senator Cook, Senate Print 2729, an act to amend 2869 1 the General Municipal Law and others, in 2 relation to enhancing the use of mediation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 4 will read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 6 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 391, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2586, an 15 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 16 registration of a pharmacy. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 18 will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 21 November. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 2870 1 the negatives; announce the results. 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55, nays 1, 3 Senator Kuhl recorded in the negative. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 431, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 3133-A, an 8 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 9 relation to duties of the Director of Real 10 Property Tax Services. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 12 will read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 16 roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 20 is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 445, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 1977, an act 23 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to criminal 24 possession of a weapon in the third degree. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2871 1 Paterson. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 3 Mr. President. May we have a day on that bill? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 5 will lay the bill aside for the day. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 448, by Senator Volker, Senate Print - 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 10 bill aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 490, by member of the Assembly Hoyt, Assembly 13 Print 205-A, an act to amend the Public Health 14 Law, in relation to requiring statements of 15 patients. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 17 will read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect on the 1st day of January. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 25 is passed. 2872 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 495, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print - 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay aside for 4 the day. 5 THE SECRETARY: -- Print 3000-A. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 7 bill aside for the day. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 512, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1541 10 A, an act to amend the Surrogate's Court 11 Procedure Act, in relation to retention of 12 commissions. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 521, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2368, an 25 act to authorize the town of Newburgh, Orange 2873 1 County, to abandon Mill Road -- Mill House 2 Road. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 4 a home rule message at the desk. Secretary will 5 read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 526, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 3611, an act 16 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 17 to service of a petition. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 19 will read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the 1st day of January. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 2874 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 531, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 41, an act to 5 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 6 to requiring suspension and revocation of a 7 driver's license. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 9 will read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 12 November. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 554, by Senator Present, Senate Print 764, an 21 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 22 Act, in relation to adjudicatory proceedings. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 24 will read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 2875 1 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 570, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 2246, 10 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 11 Law, in relation to issuing integrated facility 12 permits. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 22 is passed. 23 Senator Skelos, that completes 24 the reading of the non-controversial calendar. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 2876 1 if we could take up the controversial calendar. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 3 will read the controversial calendar, beginning 4 on page 17, Calendar Number 448, by Senator 5 Volker. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 448, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 3407, an 8 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 9 relation to the authority of police officers. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Explanation. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Volker, an explanation has been requested by 13 Senator Leichter. 14 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 15 my colleagues, I hope you'll bear with me a 16 little bit today if I'm a little emotional. 17 This has been a very long and difficult day for 18 us in Buffalo. I came directly from the funeral 19 of a police officer who some of you may have 20 read about, was killed earlier this week in a 21 senseless killing. As I said, very emotional, 22 young man 36 years old, four children. I 23 realized, as I read some of the stories in the 24 paper, that of the last half dozen police 25 officers killed in Erie County, four of them 2877 1 were friends of mine. One of them was a client 2 and a good friend. 3 It is very difficult sometimes, 4 and I'd be the first to admit to you, to discuss 5 some of these issues and as much as I realize 6 that they should be discussed completely 7 objectively, it is not necessarily easy to do. 8 In fact, you might be fascinated to know -- and, 9 Senator Gold, you and I have talked about this 10 before, and there's a reason I mention this and 11 you'll know why when I tell you -- the 12 individual involved who has been arrested and 13 who turned himself in was arrested approximately 14 30 times, and I say "approximately" because I'm 15 not sure of his juvenile record. I know that he 16 was arrested more than 20 times as an adult, 19 17 years old, suspected in three murders. He not 18 only shot an individual, he was out on bail 19 pending three felony convictions. 20 As far as I can determine, he was 21 a non-violent felon and the reason he was a 22 non-violent felon is that he had never been 23 convicted of a violent felony that I could 24 determine -- drugs, guns. Had been charged, as 25 I say, on a number of occasions but never 2878 1 convicted, and admittedly you could say, Well, 2 this has nothing to do with the Police and 3 Public Protection Act of 1997. In a way, it 4 does. 5 These are the kinds of people, 6 like it or not, that our law enforcement people 7 are facing today out on the streets. We're 8 facing a situation, I think, where I don't think 9 we completely realize -- yes, David, I get the 10 point -- that it is still a very scary situation 11 even though the numbers of violent crimes have 12 been declining; but all that aside, still our 13 police officers face a situation, in fact, in 14 some ways much more serious because of the 15 declining feeling for law enforcement people and 16 for our institutions. 17 One thing I think our media 18 should understand is, the media in Buffalo just 19 finished tearing apart the police department in 20 Buffalo with the involvement in several cases, 21 so I don't think they quite realize that they 22 never really, in my opinion, revealed the 23 situation that was involved in the police 24 killing. They only talked about one side of the 25 case and did not really get into some of the 2879 1 other sides and made the case look even worse in 2 many ways than it was. 3 The Police and Public Protection 4 Act of 1997, which is essentially the same bill 5 as passed last year, passed this house 38 to 12, 6 it tries to deal with the mish-mash of Court of 7 Appeals decisions, Appellate Division decisions, 8 in this state and every time I go through these 9 and reread them, I shake my head. 10 I think the problem is that if 11 you objectively look at some of the things that 12 are said in this bill without reading these 13 Court of Appeals and Appellate Division cases, 14 you really can't begin to understand what has 15 been occurring in this state, and some of the 16 almost loony decisions -- it's the only way I 17 can characterize them -- that have been 18 occurring where wanton criminals were allowed to 19 walk out the door essentially because a judge 20 had some idea that he was driving the thought of 21 constitutional privilege to its ultimate, 22 penultimate, whatever you want to call it, 23 depth. 24 Basically what this bill tries to 25 do is to put New York's statute on police stops 2880 1 -- these are stops and questionings -- back the 2 way the rest of the nation is, because it's - 3 the Court of Appeals of this state has set up a 4 standard not by law -- that is, not by statute, 5 but they have interpreted our statute. 6 Our statute which has been on the 7 books for years talks about a reasonable ground 8 of suspicion that the person is committing, has 9 committed or is about to commit a crime. Now, 10 that standard's been around for a number of 11 years, but what has happened is that the court 12 has interpreted that so stringently so that a 13 number of cases, real substantial stopping and 14 questioning has become very, very difficult, if 15 not impossible, and in fact I read one case that 16 to me is unbelievable where the judge said, 17 Well, the person has the right to flee. 18 Now, you have to think about it. 19 There is no question about the right not to 20 respond unless there's some criminal act or 21 something like that. No one's arguing that, but 22 the right to flee is something that is a little 23 bit beyond me. I guess, as somebody who was in 24 the street, it's beyond me how a judge could do 25 that unless except for one thing, if you do not 2881 1 understand what is truly involved in police 2 procedures and in what's happening in the 3 streets and you have to put that in 4 perspective. 5 What this bill would do is set up 6 a standard that talks about an objective - 7 where is the provision here because I want to 8 get it exactly right. The -- oh, "objective, 9 credible, reason not necessarily indicative of 10 criminality." The reason for that reminds me of 11 the time when a fellow, police officer of mine, 12 stopped a person who was shot, didn't know he 13 had been shot, thought that there was something 14 wrong with him. He thought he was sick, 15 whatever, stopped him to see if he was all 16 right. He didn't obviously know that there was 17 any crime involved. Technically speaking, he 18 didn't have a right to stop and question him, 19 did question him. After some questioning, the 20 fellow said, "I've been shot," and he said, 21 "I've got to get some help," and then he 22 realized this fellow had a gun and then he 23 realized a little bit later that the fellow had 24 killed somebody. 25 The point I'm trying to make is 2882 1 technically, under the rules of the Court of 2 Appeals of New York today, that entire matter 3 would have been thrown out because there would 4 have been no -- no knowledge of criminality, no 5 standard of criminality. Under this standard, 6 something of that nature that is pretty obvious, 7 it seems to me, would objectively be allowed. 8 The other main provision of this 9 bill dates and involves the question of 10 evidence. What the Supreme Court has done is 11 use an old standard, Supreme Court of the United 12 States, that basically goes back to a case 13 called Mapp vs. Ohio. The federal standard says 14 that we still have rules that deal with the 15 proper -- the proper evidentiary rules for 16 lawful searches, but it also says that if the 17 officer did not act in bad faith and was 18 attempting to protect the safety of the 19 individual or the police officer himself or 20 herself and the individual, then that -- that 21 search could be found to be valid. 22 What this bill basically does is 23 go back to that standard and try to use that 24 standard which is the standard which practically 25 every jurisdiction in this country uses. 2883 1 There's a kind of a strange provision in the 2 bill that talks about violations of state 3 statutes and the reason for that is, if you read 4 the bill through, you'd realize it's not that 5 the bill would invalidate any state statutes, 6 but what it says that you can't use state 7 statutes to go beyond the federal constitutional 8 limits, and that's what it really means. 9 It doesn't intend to say that we 10 don't have our own constitutional restrictions, 11 but the bill attempts to clearly define statutes 12 that our Court of Appeals has reinterpreted 13 which they've been interpreting for years in one 14 way, and the Constitution of the United States 15 has interpreted, and not be in violation and 16 what the Court of Appeals has said, no matter 17 what we've said through all these years, no 18 matter what the federal Constitution says, no 19 matter what the state Legislature says, this is 20 what we say they said. 21 What this legislation attempts to 22 do is to say that we need to go back to the 23 reasonable standards for stopping and frisking 24 and to the reasonable standard for search and 25 seizure and for withholding in searches, and 2884 1 that basically is what this bill does. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 3 President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Leichter. 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 7 if Senator Volker would yield. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Volker, do you yield to some questions from 10 Senator Leichter? 11 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 yields. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, the 15 first part of your bill which deals with the 16 right or purports to give the right to police 17 officers to approach people and ask them 18 questions when they have a credible reason, not 19 necessarily indicative of criminality. 20 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. 21 SENATOR LEICHTER: You gave an 22 example where a police officer thought that 23 somebody was ill or sick. Did I understand you 24 correctly? 25 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. Right. 2885 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Now, there's 2 nothing under the law presently that prohibits a 3 police officer coming to somebody that they 4 believe is in distress and saying, Are you in 5 trouble, can I help you? 6 SENATOR VOLKER: Except if you 7 follow -- if the following -- if you follow the 8 language of what the courts have done, anything 9 that you find after that stop, any questions 10 that you make could well be thrown out and, in 11 fact, have been thrown out and any evidence that 12 you obtain after that because you didn't 13 anticipate that there was any criminality 14 involved, also has been thrown out and that's 15 the key. 16 It's not the stopping as such; 17 it's what happens afterwards that the courts 18 have interpreted. 19 SENATOR LEICHTER: All right. 20 But Senator Volker, if you continue to yield. 21 SENATOR VOLKER: Yeah. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 continues to yield. 24 SENATOR LEICHTER: You keep 25 saying that, but the question is that had the 2886 1 person who was stopped and asked, Are you in 2 need of help, and the person says, No, I'm fine. 3 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. 4 SENATOR LEICHTER: Your bill 5 would seem to allow the police officer to 6 continue to ask questions, once having stopped 7 the person to conceivably take some other police 8 action. 9 SENATOR VOLKER: No, I don't 10 think it would. I think all it would do is, 11 yes, it would continue to, if there was some 12 suspicion, if there could be some suspicion. If 13 the person continued to say, No, and continued 14 to answer the questions objectively there's 15 nothing the police officer could do from there. 16 Let's make that clear. In fact, that's one of 17 the things that's been a bit annoying about the 18 court cases, is the question about saying that 19 you know, well, if you find something that the 20 fact that you asked the questions is a restraint 21 of rights. 22 You -- Senator, you and I 23 discussed the fact that you do have the right 24 not to respond. If you want to say, No, I have 25 no problem, so forth. Of course, on the other 2887 1 hand if you drop a gun or if the -- if something 2 is objectively found, that's a different - 3 that's a different story, but I agree with you. 4 I don't think there is anything in this bill 5 that, if nothing else is determined, that would 6 stop that person from saying, No. That's it, 7 and if there's no objective evidence, they can 8 walk away and that's it. 9 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 10 if Senator Volker will yield. 11 SENATOR VOLKER: Yeah. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator 13 Volker, I think the plain language of the 14 statute belies what you say. Maybe one of the 15 reasons why the court sometimes does some of the 16 things that we object to is, very frankly, that 17 we also author statutes that are not clearly 18 expressed, because the key to this section is 19 stopping somebody. 20 Now, you've given a grounds for 21 stopping which is, are you in distress, the way 22 you do now, but then you go on and if you look 23 at line 17, "may ask such questions and take 24 such other actions". 25 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. 2888 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: "Ask such 2 questions and take such other actions", so what 3 your bill does, once you give the police officer 4 the right to stop -- and that's what your bill 5 purports to do -- you then say the police 6 officer may take such - 7 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. 8 SENATOR LEICHTER: -- take such 9 other actions. 10 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. 11 SENATOR LEICHTER: So in the case 12 that I've given to you where the police officer 13 stops somebody and says, Are you sick, are you 14 in distress, do you need help? 15 SENATOR VOLKER: M-m h-m-m, 16 right. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: I think the 18 person clearly - 19 SENATOR VOLKER: What would that 20 police officer do, arrest him? 21 SENATOR LEICHTER: Let me just 22 finish the question. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: If you 24 would permit me, Senator Leichter, if I might 25 just interrupt you a minute. We do have a 2889 1 reporter who has to take this down and when you 2 turn your back to the microphone and talk 3 directly to Senator Volker, it's very difficult 4 for us up here or other people here or in the 5 rest of the complex to hear you, and when you 6 jump right in, Senator Volker, it makes it 7 extremely difficult to record the content and 8 because it's so important today on this 9 historical day in Albany to have it recorded 10 exactly as it's debated, I would plead with you 11 to each respect the rights of the other and use 12 the mechanisms that are here so that we can get 13 it all down to the last exclamation point. 14 And now if you want to proceed 15 with your explanation. 16 SENATOR LEICHTER: I don't think 17 Senator Volker needs to be chastised. I think as 18 usual you have given us very good instructions, 19 Mr. President, and I thank you for that. I just 20 want to finish my question of Senator Volker and 21 just say that it seems to me that what your bill 22 does is establish vast parameters for stopping 23 people, and then once you've stopped, you may 24 ask such questions and, in your example, I think 25 that after the person says, "No, Officer, I'm 2890 1 not in distress, I'm fine," that the officer has 2 the right to ask other questions, and take such 3 other actions as he deems appropriate even 4 though the person says, "No, I'm not in 5 distress." The officer says, "Well, let me 6 see," and maybe pats him down or asks him some 7 other questions. I think that's clearly what you 8 seek to do. 9 SENATOR VOLKER: No, Senator, I 10 don't agree with that. In fact, I was trying to 11 think of what could happen. Let's say the guy, 12 you ask him a couple more questions, he says, 13 "No," and he falls down, he falls down and a 14 gun falls out of his pocket. You find out he's 15 been shot. Then you, of course, get an 16 ambulance for him. Then the question becomes 17 was what you did proper? I think that's the 18 further actions that would be taken. 19 But let's assume that doesn't 20 happen. Let's assume he just says, "No, I'm 21 sorry, I have no problem and I have nothing to 22 say to you." There's nothing under this bill 23 that would allow a police officer, to my -- to 24 my way of thinking, and I think it's pretty 25 clear, to do anything else, unless he has other 2891 1 objective evidence to allow him to do something 2 further. 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 4 on the bill, please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Leichter, on the bill. 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator 8 Volker, let me say -- and I appreciate how 9 difficult it must have been today for you to be 10 at the funeral of an officer. I've been at 11 funerals of officers who have been killed, and I 12 know there's nothing more painful, and I think 13 all of us certainly extend the deepest sympathy 14 not only to his family but the people of 15 Buffalo, and we've had police officers shot in 16 my city, in New York City. It's a terrible 17 thing, and we're ever grateful for police 18 officers who protect us, who risk their lives. 19 We know it's a dangerous job, and I think we 20 want to give them all appropriate protection. 21 But having said that, Senator 22 Volker, I don't think, and I urge my colleagues 23 to read this bill carefully because, as heart 24 felt as the situation is that Senator Volker has 25 brought to our attention, it should not be the 2892 1 reason or the means, the vehicle by which we 2 pass a bill that I believe violates the 3 Constitution of the state of New York and quite 4 likely the Constitution of the United States. 5 I think this bill shreds basic 6 constitutional rights. One of the most 7 cherished rights that we have in this country, 8 and maybe I appreciate it more than some other 9 people because I came from a country that was 10 under a police state, and one of the most 11 terrible and terrifying things is that a police 12 officer can stop you at any time for any reason 13 and ask you any questions. 14 Now, I'm not suggesting that 15 that's what Senator Volker is trying to do. I 16 know it isn't, but I must say, Senator, that the 17 effect of this bill is to greatly broaden the 18 instances that a police officer can stop 19 somebody and to stop somebody because you feel 20 there's a reason of criminality obviously, that 21 should be permitted. It is permitted, it's the 22 law today. But to say you can stop them for 23 reasons that are not related to criminality and 24 then take such other action -- what your bill 25 says is, take such other actions as the officer 2893 1 deems appropriate. That, Senator, opens up a 2 whole area of police oppression where people in 3 this country, I think, don't want to be stopped 4 by police officers. 5 One thing, and it's a wonderful 6 thing, a police officer comes up, somebody says, 7 Do you need help? Do you need help crossing the 8 street? Do you need help carrying a bag or are 9 you sick? Can I in some other way be of 10 assistance to you? He can do that now, but then 11 to use that as an excuse to stop somebody and 12 ask him some other questions, as I think your 13 bill does, I think is extremely dangerous and I 14 plead with everyone, much as we're committed to 15 giving the police all of the tools that they 16 need, and much as we want to provide ways in 17 which we can reduce crime, bring it down even 18 lower than the reductions that we've achieved so 19 far, let's not do it at the expense of basic 20 rights. 21 We're talking of the most basic 22 right of all which is to be left alone, not to 23 be questioned by the police. Commit a crime, 24 police officer thinks you may have committed a 25 crime, has reasonable objective grounds to 2894 1 consider that a crime has been committed, of 2 course, the police officer can stop you. That's 3 the law, but now we're saying a police officer 4 can stop you even when there's no indication or 5 belief that a crime has been committed. 6 I find that very offensive. I 7 find that not just questionable. I find that 8 that really is violative of some of the basic 9 principles that make the freedom and liberty of 10 this country the envy of other countries 11 throughout the world. 12 The bill does two other things. 13 The second thing is in terms of requiring courts 14 to set forth the reasons when evidence is sup 15 pressed. I don't find anything objectionable. 16 But then it also deals with the suppression of 17 evidence, and there, Senator Volker, this is not 18 an effort, contrary to what you say, this is not 19 an effort to bring New York State in with what 20 exists in the rest of the nation. 21 I can't speak for every state of 22 the Union, but I don't believe that we now -- we 23 shouldn't say "we", that other states provide 24 that evidence that is gotten in a -- in -- where 25 the grounds for acquiring this evidence are not 2895 1 ones that presently, under the U.S. Constitution 2 would be permitted, where evidence is suppressed 3 because it was acquired illegally, even if it 4 was done in good faith that other states say 5 that evidence can be used. 6 I know that the federal rule 7 tends to be less restrictive than the New York 8 rule. But the point is that we have a 9 Constitution here in the state of New York, and 10 I heard you say something which I frankly found 11 difficult to believe, that the effort of this 12 bill is to see that the Court of Appeals does 13 what is required -- what is -- may be 14 permissible under the U. S. Constitution, even 15 though it's not permissible under the New York 16 State Constitution. We can't do this as a 17 legislative body. We have a court. This is 18 gross interference with the judicial process. 19 I guess one of the reasons I may 20 not have explained it as clearly as I would like 21 and as I think it needs to be explained is 22 because as the law presently is, unless you have 23 a valid and good grounds to search somebody, to 24 take property, so on, that you find evidence as 25 a result of that search even if the police 2896 1 officer acted in good faith, thought that he had 2 the right to do so, that that evidence will be 3 suppressed, and it's all based on the search and 4 seizure which is again one of the rock 5 principles in our Constitution, in our society, 6 and it's not only in the U. S. Constitution but 7 it's stated and somewhat differently in the New 8 York Constitution, and it's been interpreted by 9 the Court of Appeals over many years, and it has 10 required that the police officer, irrespective 11 of his good faith or bad faith, that he follows 12 the law. 13 What we're saying is that the 14 constable has to follow the law. So I think 15 that this is clearly, to my mind, unconstitu 16 tional. Certainly unconstitutional under the 17 New York Constitution, but I think it's also 18 unconstitutional under the federal Constitution 19 because the Supreme Court, although it's 20 somewhat given greater latitude on search and 21 seizure, has never gone to the point of saying 22 that -- that unless it was committed in bad 23 faith, and then you go on and you say not in 24 whole or in part for the purpose of protecting 25 the safety of the actor or another person. 2897 1 I mean that's a wide open 2 loophole because almost anything can be 3 considered as pursuing the safety of either the 4 one who is patting down the individual or taking 5 the evidence or he's doing it to protect society 6 at large. So it's really no standard at all as 7 far as I can see this. 8 Then you go on, and you have a 9 provision in there which I have difficulty 10 understanding, limiting in effect the current 11 statute that we have and even statutes in the 12 future are limited insofar as the exclusionary 13 rule is concerned. 14 So I think you have gone way 15 beyond what's permissible constitutionally, but 16 I think you have also violated the separation of 17 powers. This is a clear interference in our 18 part in the judicial process, in the province of 19 the judiciary to interpret the Constitution and 20 to interpret law, but we're saying that, no, 21 you've got to interpret this in a particular 22 way. 23 Let me finally say, Senator 24 Volker, there are all sorts of studies that have 25 been made that the suppression of evidence is 2898 1 not a hindrance. The suppression of evidence as 2 it's now applied by the court is not a hindrance 3 to getting convictions, to putting criminals 4 away, to pursuing a criminal case with proper 5 evidence, and prosecutors will tell you that. 6 Now, it's perfectly true some - 7 there have been some cases that have been 8 debated where people have different opinions but 9 to take those cases and based on two or three of 10 them, where you may disagree with the outcome 11 and to completely change the exclusionary rule, 12 I think is a bad mistake and I think as you do 13 it, as I've said, I think you've done it in 14 violation of the Constitution of this state and 15 probably of the federal Constitution. 16 So much as there may be a lot of 17 emotional reasons for passing this sort of 18 legislation, we can't do it. We shouldn't do it 19 and we should keep in mind basic principles of 20 liberty in this country. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Waldon. 23 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 24 much, Mr. President. 25 My colleagues, I heard what 2899 1 Senator Volker said in regards to his experience 2 at the funeral today, and I respect that, and so 3 instead of asking questions of him, I will 4 attempt to do what I want to do by just speaking 5 to the bill, Mr. President. 6 I wonder why this is being 7 presented to us again. Last year the vote was 8 36 to 18, but it was only in our house that a 9 vote was taken. So if last year it did not 10 emerge in the Assembly, one could guess that the 11 same thing will happen this year, so this is an 12 exercise in futility to deal with this issue on 13 our floor. 14 So if my presumption is accurate, 15 then why are we going through the exercise, 16 seems to be a question that can be asked. For 17 one, it shows, from the Governor's perspective, 18 I would assume, that he's very tough on crime, 19 and that's commendable. It is good to be tough 20 on crime. 21 But yesterday's paper, driving up 22 here today on the news broadcast, and over the 23 last week or two, I've heard that crime is 24 plummeting, 12 percent by some estimates, 14 25 percent by others. The three major assault 2900 1 categories have dropped about 14 percent as 2 described in the media in the last day or so. 3 So there doesn't seem to be -- and I'm not 4 speaking from the perspective of the victim, but 5 there doesn't seem to be sufficient reason to 6 change the fundamental guarantees of our nation 7 in regard to its Constitution and the state's 8 Constitution regarding crime because crime seems 9 to be curtailing itself by itself. 10 What does this bill do? It 11 attempts to expand the authority of the police. 12 Doesn't attempt. If we pass it and if it became 13 law, it would. But aren't our police considered 14 the best trained in the world? That's what we 15 say. So why should we have to clear short-cuts 16 for them to accomplish their end under the 17 Constitution, if they are, in fact, so good? 18 But there's a more troublesome 19 and meddlesome area of this proposal. That is 20 prohibiting the court from suppressing evidence 21 and then requiring that a court cannot grant 22 motions to suppress tangible property. I'm 23 sorry. If a court should suppress tangible 24 property in regard to the case, they must then 25 put it in writing. The Governor then becomes 2901 1 the watchdog of the courts. 2 Our founding fathers, in their 3 wisdom, said we need three separate and apart 4 entities to govern ourselves. Final review is 5 by the court. The Legislature passes the bills 6 and the Executive administers the government. 7 What we would do if this were to become law in 8 this state is to allow the Governor to expand 9 beyond his parameters and control the courts. I 10 don't think the founding fathers intended that, 11 and I think that is a huge, huge mistake. 12 But let's just presume that this 13 were to pass. If this were to pass, a police 14 officer is walking along the street and he sees 15 someone who has not done anything which is 16 reasonable cause, that gives him reasonable 17 cause to believe a crime has been committed, et 18 cetera, et cetera. Who does he stop? Who will 19 the police officers in the state of New York 20 stop? Will they look to stop illegal aliens, 21 people who do not look like them? Will they 22 look to stop even those who are not illegal 23 aliens or aliens, but who do not look like them? 24 Will this become a reason to hassle and harass 25 to a greater extent than they are already being 2902 1 hassled and harassed young black men who wear 2 "dreads", who wear their caps on the backs of 3 their heads, who wear loud and funky colors, who 4 I find often obnoxious and I can't handle it, 5 and I am African-American? Who will the police 6 hassle and harass if this becomes law? 7 I think it becomes a situation 8 for those who will be most hassled and harassed 9 will look somewhat like me. I don't think we 10 need this. I think we're better than this. I 11 think our police are sufficiently trained not to 12 need to resort to such devices in order to 13 express criminality, but isn't that what police 14 are there for, To deal with crime and 15 criminals, not whim as described by this 16 particular bill? 17 And so because of these reasons 18 and because I think it contravenes our 19 Constitution both at the state and the federal 20 level, and because it would interfere with 21 judicial discretion and because it creates a 22 situation where the Governor is "uber alles", I 23 think it is not wise for us to deal with this 24 and to pass it. But I'm sure we will pass it, 25 but I'm sure in the Assembly it will not come up 2903 1 for consideration, and so we have again an 2 exercise in futility. 3 Unfortunately, these things 4 happen here. Stuff happens even in the Senate, 5 but I encourage us to improve the vote over last 6 year. Last year it was 36 to 18, 50 percent. 7 Let's make it better this year, let's have some 8 more wisdom from amongst those of us who sit in 9 this chamber. 10 I thank you very much, Mr. 11 President, for your indulgence and the 12 indulgence of my colleagues. I recommend that we 13 vote no on this proposal. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Volker. 16 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 17 let me just say, in all sincerity, and I mean 18 this very sincerely, I know you feel very 19 strongly. The passage of this bill will have 20 very little impact on the street except -- let 21 me finish -- except for one thing. 22 The question was asked by 23 someone, then why do it? The answer is, it will 24 have very little impact on the day-to-day 25 operations of the street except for one thing, 2904 1 that a lot of people who are now taking 2 advantage of police officers out there on the 3 streets now and escaping justice and assaulting 4 police officers and doing a lot of the things 5 that we all abhor will have more difficulty 6 doing it. 7 Let me explain something to you 8 about some things that happened many years ago 9 and, by the way, what's been happening in our 10 society has been coming a long, long time, and I 11 thought about today when I was going to expound 12 and I was really in a kind of a foul mood, I 13 suppose for obvious reasons, and I won't get 14 into that. 15 But, as a young police officer, 16 one of my jobs was -- before I left was to train 17 young police officers, and I'm proud to say one 18 of them is the chief of police today, one of 19 them is an F.B.I. agent. Another one is a 20 retired DEA agent, so forth, not that I had 21 anything to do with it, but at least I was with 22 them. And I used to say to them, Look -- they'd 23 say, "Dale, you're a lawyer" -- by this time I 24 was a lawyer and a police officer -- "How do we 25 deal with this stuff in the streets? How do we 2905 1 deal with it? We're not lawyers and we don't 2 know how to deal with it," and I said, "Look, 3 use the guide that I've always used and you'll 4 be all right. Do what's reasonable under the 5 circumstances. If you do what's reasonable 6 under the circumstances you'll be all right." 7 Unfortunately, in this state that 8 has -- what has occurred is that a number of 9 people who do not understand our streets, who do 10 not understand what crime is all about, have 11 been interpreting statutes way beyond what this 12 Legislature intended and are saying, "We don't 13 care what you believe is reasonable, we're not 14 going to follow that." 15 For instance, Senator Leichter, 16 and you and I weren't there, I know that for 17 sure, but in 1938 there was a Constitutional 18 Convention. You and I were -- in fact, I don't 19 think we were even born, but there was a 20 Constitutional Convention and they specifically 21 rejected the exclusionary rule that now our 22 Court of Appeals is saying New York has. Well, 23 we don't have it, but they're saying we do and 24 the article of the state's Constitution that 25 they're interpreting as more stringent than the 2906 1 federal constitutional provision is exactly the 2 same language. 3 Not only are they doing that but 4 they're taking statutes that this Legislature 5 passed and saying, basically we don't care what 6 that Legislature said, we're reinterpreting it 7 because that's not -- it wasn't clear enough for 8 us, even though we've had case after case over 9 the years that have said, Yes, Legislature, you 10 did say that, and we're going to follow that. 11 Well, they're not following it. 12 So when you talk about the 13 exclusionary rule, you'd better understand no 14 one is saying, this bill does not say that New 15 York is going to change our whole Constitution. 16 What we're saying is that, in modern times, in 17 other words, within the last few years, we've 18 had interpretations that go way beyond anything 19 that New York has ever interpreted before this. 20 That's what we're saying. 21 The second thing about the 22 streets, and as far as stopping is concerned, I 23 don't agree -- if I agreed that police would be 24 stopping and harassing people because of this 25 statute, I would be the last one to do this bill 2907 1 and I can assure you of something, that there 2 are bills that come to my committee, tough 3 hard-nosed criminal justice bills that favor 4 police that don't get out of my committee 5 because I don't think they're a good idea, 6 because I think I know a little bit about -- I 7 don't profess to know a great deal, but I know 8 about some of the things that occur. 9 So I happen to believe that what 10 we're trying to do here is to put more 11 credibility into the streets and not give police 12 officers enormous powers, but more than anything 13 to allow where they acted reasonably that 14 evidence that's uncovered and criminality that's 15 uncovered can be reasonably treated after that. 16 That's what we're really trying to do here. 17 And, Senator Waldon, I want to 18 tell you something about bills that pass this 19 Senate and don't pass the Assembly. I had about 20 seven of them last year that have been passing 21 this house year after year after year after year 22 and people said, They'll never pass the 23 Assembly. 24 Well, we changed them a little 25 bit and they passed the Assembly. In fact, one 2908 1 bill, I'd been sponsoring I think for eight or 2 ten years and it passed the Assembly because 3 finally we were in a situation where we were 4 able to deal with the Assembly and get an 5 agreement. 6 I'll make a prediction to you 7 about this bill. This bill may not pass the 8 Assembly exactly the way it is, but I will make 9 a prediction to you that this house's version of 10 this bill will pass the Assembly before the next 11 election. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Abate. 14 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. Would 15 Senator Volker yield to a question? 16 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 yields. 19 SENATOR ABATE: Senator, I have 20 about 12 pages of my questions and statement 21 from last year. I will spare you. 22 SENATOR VOLKER: Thank you for 23 that. I remember very vividly. 24 SENATOR ABATE: Yes, I'm even 25 shocked by the length of the discourse from last 2909 1 year, but I just have one question that still 2 remains in my mind to be answered. 3 Is it your intention by this bill 4 to have our state standards consistent with 5 federal standards in terms of stop, in terms of 6 search and seizure? 7 SENATOR VOLKER: Generally 8 speaking, yes, reasonably so. I think that, you 9 know, what I think the argument that we make 10 here is that the general standards throughout 11 the country is a lesser standard than New York 12 has adopted, not adopted, but that the Court of 13 Appeals has determined not by statute, but by 14 court decision. 15 Senator Leichter talked about the 16 separation of powers. I agree with him on the 17 separation of powers, and I have a tremendous - 18 I take tremendous umbrage to what I believe has 19 been reinterpretation of statutes that have been 20 done over the last decade way beyond anything 21 that anyone has ever seen in this state, at 22 least in our time, certainly not in my time and 23 I think he's absolutely correct, and I think 24 that there should be a separation of powers but 25 I think it's the courts that have taken the 2910 1 initiative to reinterpret our statutes; and so 2 my answer to you is, generally speaking, yes, we 3 -- in this bill we attempt to go back to the 4 federal standard. 5 SENATOR ABATE: So, Senator 6 Volker, it's not your intent to make the state's 7 exclusionary rule more stringent than the 8 federal standards? 9 SENATOR VOLKER: In all honesty, 10 over the years our exclusionary rule has 11 somewhat -- well, we don't have an exclusionary 12 rule as such, but our search and seizure rule 13 before the most recent Court of Appeals 14 decision, if I'm not mistaken, were somewhat 15 more stringent anyway, but what we're doing 16 basically is not necessarily to just go to the 17 federal standard but in no case would we be less 18 than the federal standard which I think is under 19 Mapp vs. Ohio if I'm not mistaken. Mapp vs. 20 Ohio. 21 SENATOR ABATE: So, Senator, it's 22 your intention to have our state exclusionary 23 rule no more than the federal government, no 24 more and no less? 25 SENATOR VOLKER: Yeah, correct. 2911 1 Let me point out to you once before what I said 2 once again. The exclusionary rule, New York 3 exclusionary rule, was rejected specifically by 4 the convention in 1938 and, technically 5 speaking, we have some case law and statutory 6 law but technically we don't have a statutory 7 rule. 8 SENATOR ABATE: I mean the 9 exclusionary rule that's been, not by statute 10 but rather by case law, the stop, frisk and 11 search capacity? 12 SENATOR VOLKER: Right. 13 SENATOR ABATE: So if, in fact, 14 what you're attempting to do is to mirror that 15 of the federal standard, why did you use 16 different language? The federal law talks about 17 "good faith" and this statute talks about "bad 18 faith". 19 SENATOR VOLKER: I think we used 20 a version of the federal -- I think there's 21 several ways in which the federal -- the federal 22 standards are used, and we used basically the 23 same standard but in a little bit different way 24 if that's what you mean. It's true, I suppose, 25 you could go exactly with the federal standard 2912 1 but if you look at the way in which this statute 2 is set up, it is virtually the same except that 3 the -- the language is changed a bit and, in 4 some ways, I suppose it could be determined to 5 be maybe even maybe more stringent, but I guess 6 it depends on how you look at it, but it is 7 basically the same standard. 8 SENATOR ABATE: Would the Senator 9 continue to yield? 10 SENATOR VOLKER: Sure. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 yields. 13 SENATOR ABATE: Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I was 15 just counting the questions, Senator. I think 16 we got to seven now, but in any case, continue. 17 SENATOR ABATE: Yes, it's part 18 seven of the first question. 19 So. In your mind, there's no 20 difference between a good faith exception and a 21 bad faith exception. 22 SENATOR VOLKER: Well, of course, 23 there is a difference between a good faith 24 exception and a bad faith exception, but it 25 depends on -- what it means the same as either 2913 1 you do have good faith or you have bad faith, or 2 you don't. In other words, you're using 3 basically the same standard you're using for 4 harassment purposes, and so forth. 5 By the way, I think that one of 6 the things is that we're not saying, remember 7 what's happened here, we've had a series of 8 cases that has been looked at in a vacuum. What 9 they've done they've looked at search and 10 seizure in a vacuum and have taken the criminal, 11 the person who is allegedly a criminal and have 12 said, Well, we're not looking over the issue 13 here of bad faith or good faith or anything. We 14 just see a technical rule was violated here and; 15 therefore under New York's Constitution we say 16 that that -- that material, that drug, that gun 17 whatever it is has got to be thrown out. 18 What we're saying here is that 19 you should look when technical rules are dealt 20 with, where there's no other indication of any 21 constitutional violation to the issue of bad 22 faith obviously by the police officer or good 23 faith, which is the reverse of that to determine 24 whether that evidence should be put in or not. 25 SENATOR ABATE: Senator Volker, 2914 1 could you explain to me why you decided to use 2 bad faith instead of good faith? 3 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator, I 4 didn't decide that. This is the Governor's 5 program bill. The decision was his, in all 6 honesty. 7 SENATOR ABATE: So it's the 8 wisdom of the Governor we must applaud for that, 9 applaud or criticize. 10 SENATOR VOLKER: I must be very 11 honest with you, it is not my language. It is a 12 Governor's program bill, but I think what the 13 Governor decided to do in this bill is to use 14 the same principle that the federal decisions 15 have made, but from the reverse perspective and 16 I think that you get to the same point, at least 17 that's how it seems to me. 18 SENATOR ABATE: Thank you, 19 Senator. 20 Just very briefly, on the bill. 21 My concerns are manifold, but let me just 22 highlight a couple of my concerns about this 23 bill. 24 I believe that this bill goes 25 beyond the standard set by federal law. What is 2915 1 bad faith? I'm not sure. What is good faith? 2 It is not defined in the bill. Certainly we 3 want to give guidance to police on when they are 4 stopping and searching and because of the 5 vagueness of the standards in this bill, we will 6 not be giving guidance. In fact, under the bill 7 it says the police can stop people for any 8 reason, good or bad, and how is the court or how 9 is any individual going to challenge this 10 statute? How can they go into the head of a 11 police officer? It's hard enough to show the 12 actions of good faith. How are they going to 13 determine bad faith? 14 Why are we doing this? I think we 15 have to ask ourselves. If you practice criminal 16 law and if you're in the courts and if you've 17 had an occasion to argue a motion to suppress, 18 it's an extraordinary event where any evidence 19 is suppressed. In fact, in 99 percent of the 20 cases, the motion to suppress is denied. Now, 21 every now and then, we see these headlines and 22 we may not agree with the Court of Appeals 23 decision but they are few and far between and we 24 have to ask ourselves, when we are reducing 25 crime, when we are paying attention and training 2916 1 our officers, when it is important that they be 2 trained, and why are we changing the standards 3 to such an extent that we are tipping the 4 balance in the wrong direction? 5 And the reason for exclusionary 6 rules is to have a balance on the street, so the 7 officer has all the capacity and power they need 8 to function on the street, but also that there 9 will be enough rules and laws in place so that 10 an innocent person is not stopped for any 11 reason. So an exclusionary rule is about 12 protecting all the innocent people in New York 13 State and also about giving sufficient power to 14 the police. 15 I have not heard any argument 16 today that we need to change the balance. 17 Because there is some Court of Appeals cases we 18 disagree with should not be enough basis to make 19 such a fundamental change in our system. What 20 we don't have before us and which is never 21 documented is how many innocent people are 22 subject to unwarranted intrusion, are subject to 23 unreasonable searches and seizures? Those 24 individuals may be searched, may be stopped. 25 There's no contraband found, no crime 2917 1 committed. They go on their way. That kind of 2 evidence is not documented. We as a state need 3 to be concerned if we tip the balance in the 4 wrong direction, and we open up the flood gates 5 to have more and more innocent people stopped 6 for no reason or for not a legitimate reason, 7 particularly if it's not indicative of 8 criminality. 9 So we shouldn't tamper, we should 10 not allow people and innocent people to be 11 stopped just because of a hunch or suspicion. I 12 believe that there are rules in place that 13 protect all of us. Let's not use the excuse 14 today because one criminal got off where we know 15 full well in our community that there are many 16 innocent people who are stopped unnecessarily, 17 who are put in pain and burden and they should 18 not be placed in the situation. So there are 19 many reasons and my colleagues have articulated 20 very well why this bill goes too far. It's not 21 necessary. The officers have all the capacity in 22 law and ability to stop people now and to arrest 23 people, to prevent crime, and this tips the 24 scales in a very dangerous direction, a 25 direction we should not venture into. 2918 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 2 will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 8 the negatives. 9 Senator Waldon to explain his 10 vote. 11 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 12 much, Mr. President. 13 On the street is where this bill 14 really counts. In the city of New York 25 to 30 15 people are fatally shot each year by the New 16 York City Police Department. Most recently, a 17 young man was shot in the back of his head. It 18 was said that he was menacing the police officer 19 and coming towards the police officer. There 20 are two other such shootings similar to the 21 Cedeno shooting, Kevin Cedeno. 22 The point I am trying to 23 make is that now in some instances with all of 24 the constitutional guarantees and all of the 25 restraints of the media and all of the good 2919 1 supervision that the New York City Police 2 Department has, people are being shot in the 3 back and alleged to have been coming towards the 4 police officer when they were killed. 5 I remember attending a few press 6 conferences when I was a Lieutenant in New York 7 City, and regrettably at those press conferences 8 we were there to protest the fact that black 9 police officers had been shot by white officers, 10 while performing their duty and having 11 identifiable markings, either the pins or the 12 head bands that we wore at that time. 13 The point I'm trying to make is 14 that the police can do their job now very 15 capably with the laws which are on the books. To 16 allow them to go in a wanton sense after 17 criminals, I think creates a bad atmosphere and 18 will result in even more shooting by the police 19 which are unnecessary. 20 I agree when an officer is shot. 21 I've attended funerals of officers. I have a 22 cop even now who has been shot. Some of these 23 guys were my buddies who died, but I don't think 24 that giving them unparalleled power just to stop 25 and frisk and perhaps even kill people is the 2920 1 way to go. I would hope that we would show more 2 restraint. I hope the vote is better this year 3 than it was last year. 4 I vote in the no. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Waldon will be recorded in the negative. 7 Senator DeFrancisco, did you wish 8 to explain your vote? 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I do. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I vote no 13 for some of the reasons that were discussed 14 earlier, but it has nothing to do with my 15 concern of police officers overstepping their 16 bounds. I believe most, if not all police 17 officers do, in fact, do what they think is 18 reasonable under the circumstances as Senator 19 Volker had mentioned. 20 My concern -- well, one of the 21 good parts of the bill I think before I mention 22 the bad, the good parts about the bill, I think 23 is every court, if they're going to suppress 24 evidence, should be required to in writing 25 articulate their reasons why. That gives the 2921 1 record for the appellate court to make a 2 determination as to whether those reasons were 3 legitimate or not legitimate, rather than just 4 by having a vote or a ruling without any 5 explanation. I think that every court should be 6 subject to review in that sense. 7 The difficulty I have with it is 8 I don't know how a police officer could possibly 9 understand the standard under which this bill 10 would govern their actions. An officer can stop 11 someone when he has an objective credible 12 reason, not indicative of criminality, an 13 objective, objective -- objective, credible 14 reason of what? And I don't know how you follow 15 that standard as a police officer in trying to 16 enforce the law under these circumstances. 17 So for those reasons, I will vote 18 no, and I would certainly hope that this bill 19 could be corrected to not only give police 20 officers a broader flexibility in how they do 21 their actions but also to give the police 22 officers a standard which they can legitimately 23 interpret so that they know the bounds of their 24 responsibility. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2922 1 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the negative. 2 Announce the negatives. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 448 are Senators 5 Abate, Connor, DeFrancisco, Gold, Kruger, 6 Lachman, Leichter, Markowitz, Mendez, 7 Montgomery, Nanula, Paterson, Rosado, Sampson, 8 Santiago, Seabrook, Smith, Stavisky and Waldon. 9 Ayes 39, nays 19. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 11 is passed. 12 Senator Marcellino, that 13 completes the reading of the controversial 14 calendar. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 16 President, any housekeeping at the desk? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: No. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 19 President, there being no further business, I 20 move we adjourn until Tuesday, April 15, at 3:00 21 p.m. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 23 objection, the Senate stands adjourned until 24 tomorrow, tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15, at 3:00 25 p.m. 2923 1 (Whereupon at 5:29 p.m., the 2 Senate adjourned.) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25