Tuesday, June 13, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 June 13, 2006 11 12:10 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 THE PRESIDENT: With us once 10 again is the Reverend Peter G. Young, pastor 11 of Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing, 12 New York. 13 REVEREND YOUNG: Let us pray. 14 As we enjoy today's sunshine, we 15 hear of Alberto's storm warnings hitting the 16 Florida Gulf shores. 17 New York State has been blessed by 18 You, O God, with outstanding and natural 19 resources that our legislators enjoy and 20 protect. We are reminded as we see the beauty 21 in our state chamber, in this Senate, pictured 22 above the Senate podium between Lady Liberty 23 and Lady Justice. 24 O God, You are our Creator, and we 25 ask You to accept this Senate prayer as a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 reminder of our commitment to serve You, 2 O Lord. 3 Amen. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Father 5 Young. 6 Reading of the Journal. 7 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 8 Monday, June 12, the Senate met pursuant to 9 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, June 11, 10 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 11 adjourned. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Without 13 objection, the Journal stands approved as 14 read. 15 Presentation of petitions. 16 Messages from the Assembly. 17 Messages from the Governor. 18 Reports of standing committees. 19 Reports of select committees. 20 Communications and reports from 21 state officers. 22 Motions and resolutions. 23 Senator Fuschillo. 24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 25 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 please place a sponsor's star on Calendar 2 Number 1662. 3 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 5 Senator Larkin, I wish to call up Senate Print 6 Number 7156, recalled from the Assembly, which 7 is now at the desk. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 9 will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1528, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7156, an 12 act to authorize the City of Kingston. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 14 Fuschillo. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move 16 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 17 passed. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 19 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 23 the following amendments. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 25 are received.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 2 Senator Morahan, on page number 13 I offer the 3 following amendments to Calendar Number 349, 4 Senate Print Number 5340, and ask that said 5 bill retain its place on Third Reading 6 Calendar. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 8 are received, and the bill will retain its 9 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 11 Senator Golden, on page number 36 I offer the 12 following amendments to Calendar Number 888, 13 Senate Print Number 1823 and ask that said 14 bill retain its place on Third Reading 15 Calendar. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 17 are received. The bill will retain its place 18 on the Third Reading Calendar. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 20 Senator Volker, on page number 66 I offer the 21 following amendments to Calendar Number 1409, 22 Senate Print Number 6748, and ask that said 23 bill retain its place on Third Reading 24 Calendar. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 are received, and that bill will retain its 2 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 3 Senator Fuschillo. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Are there any 5 substitutions at the desk? 6 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there are. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: On page 7, 9 Senator Alesi moves to discharge, from the 10 Committee on Corporations, Authorities and 11 Commissions, Assembly Bill Number 727 and 12 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 13 Number 1318, Third Reading Calendar 198. 14 On page 14, Senator Maziarz moves 15 to discharge, from the Committee on 16 Transportation, Assembly Bill Number 8544B and 17 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 18 Number 5658B, Third Reading Calendar 388. 19 On page 48, Senator LaValle moves 20 to discharge, from the Committee on Higher 21 Education, Assembly Bill Number 8721A and 22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 23 Number 843B, Third Reading Calendar 1122. 24 On page 52, Senator Marcellino 25 moves to discharge, from the Committee on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Consumer Protection, Assembly Bill Number 2 3255A and substitute it for the identical 3 Senate Bill Number 2472A, Third Reading 4 Calendar 1187. 5 On page 53, Senator Nozzolio moves 6 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 7 Assembly Bill Number 2472A and substitute it 8 for the identical Senate Bill Number 511A, 9 Third Reading Calendar 1203. 10 On page 59, Senator Fuschillo moves 11 to discharge, from the Committee on Insurance, 12 Assembly Bill Number 632 and substitute it for 13 the identical Senate Bill Number 1774, Third 14 Reading Calendar 1316. 15 On page 76, Senator Little moves to 16 discharge, from the Committee on Local 17 Government, Assembly Bill Number 10473 and 18 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 19 Number 7700, Third Reading Calendar 1543. 20 On page 76, Senator Little moves to 21 discharge, from the Committee on Local 22 Government, Assembly Bill Number 10482 and 23 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 24 Number 7736, Third Reading Calendar 1544. 25 On page 76, Senator Little moves to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 discharge, from the Committee on Local 2 Government, Assembly Bill Number 10474 and 3 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 4 Number 7739, Third Reading Calendar 1545. 5 On page 79, Senator Bruno moves to 6 discharge, from the Committee on Local 7 Government, Assembly Bill Number 8760 and 8 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 9 Number 5180, Third Reading Calendar 1601. 10 On page 80, Senator Volker moves to 11 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 12 Assembly Bill Number 9620 and substitute it 13 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6430, 14 Third Reading Calendar 1606. 15 On page 80, Senator Leibell moves 16 to discharge, from the Committee on Local 17 Government, Assembly Bill Number 9619 and 18 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 19 Number 6515, Third Reading Calendar 1607. 20 And on page 80, Senator Bonacic 21 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 22 Local Government, Assembly Bill Number 10740B 23 and substitute it for the identical Senate 24 Bill Number 6953A, Third Reading Calendar 25 1616.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Substitutions 2 ordered. 3 Senator Fuschillo. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 5 President, may we please adopt the Resolution 6 Calendar. 7 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 8 adopting the Resolution Calendar please 9 signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 12 (No response.) 13 THE PRESIDENT: The Resolution 14 Calendar is adopted. 15 Senator Fuschillo. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 17 Madam President. 18 May we please have the 19 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 21 will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 109, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 3331, an 24 act to amend the Civil Service Law. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 170, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print -- 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Lay it aside 12 for the day. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 14 aside for the day. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 198, substituted earlier by Member of the 17 Assembly Sweeney, Assembly Print Number 727, 18 an act to amend the Urban Development 19 Corporation Act. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 281, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 5806A, an 6 act to amend the Banking Law. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 335, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 2271B, an 18 act to amend the Executive Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 342, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 6448B, an 5 act to amend the Tax Law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 358, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 6612, an 17 act to amend the Tax Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect April 1, 2006. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 388 -- 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 5 for the day. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 7 aside for the day. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 455, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 2727, an 10 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 14 act shall take effect -- 15 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 16 aside. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 18 aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 460, by Senator Golden -- 21 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 22 aside. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 24 aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 468, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6913A, 2 an act to amend the Executive Law. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 6 temporarily. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 8 aside temporarily. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 504, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6872B -- 11 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 12 aside. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 14 aside. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 667, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 5418A, an 17 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 710, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2349, an 4 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering 5 and Breeding Law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 777, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 17 2851A, an act to amend the Executive Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 820, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 319, an 4 act to amend the Real Property Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 829, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 16 6844, an act to amend the Family Court Act. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 855, by Senator -- 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 4 for the day. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 6 aside for the day. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 858, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 7234A, 9 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 859, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 458, an 21 act to amend the Judiciary Law and the Uniform 22 City Court Act. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 864, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7585A, an 9 act to amend the Uniform City Court Act and 10 the Judiciary Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 14 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 954, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 133A, an 22 act in relation to directing. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 963, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 4268, an 9 act to amend the Executive Law. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1003, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6822A, 21 an act to amend the Waterfront Commission Act. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 25 act shall take effect upon enactment into law

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 by the State of New Jersey. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1007, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7711, 9 an act to amend Chapter 882 of the Laws of 10 1953. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect upon enactment into law 15 by the State of New Jersey. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1014, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7229, 23 an act to amend the Insurance Law. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1024, by Senator Young, Senate Print 7828, an 10 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1041, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 2473, an 22 act to amend the Penal Law. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect on the first of 2 November. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1045, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6276 -- 10 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 11 aside. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 13 aside. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1065, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 6745, an 16 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1073, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 2566A, 3 an act to amend the Retirement and Social 4 Security Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 8 act shall take effect on the first of April 9 next succeeding. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1082, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 7831, 17 an act to amend the Civil Service Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1102, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 129, an 4 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1104, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1392, 16 an act to amend Chapter 311 of the Laws of 17 1920. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1122, substituted earlier today by the 4 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 5 Number 8721A, an act to amend the Education 6 Law. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1141, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 4581A, 18 an act to amend the Surrogate's Court 19 Procedure Act. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect January 1, 2007. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1147, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 6884, an 6 act to amend the Lien Law. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47. Nays, 14 1. Senator Winner recorded in the negative. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1159, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 244, an 19 act to amend the Executive Law. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47. Nays, 2 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1166, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1557A, 7 an act to amend the Tax Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47. Nays, 16 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1187, substituted earlier today by Member of 21 the Assembly DiNapoli, Assembly Print Number 22 3255A, an act to amend the General Business 23 Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 25 the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect on the first of January. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1203, substituted earlier today by Member of 11 the Assembly Oaks, Assembly Print Number 12 2472A, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 13 Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 15 the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the first of 18 November. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47. Nays, 23 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 25 bill is passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1221, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7427, an 3 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47. Nays, 12 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1223, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1365D, 17 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 18 Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 28. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1230, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6757B, 6 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 7 Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 16 Serrano, to explain his vote. 17 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 I will continue to vote no on 20 hunting bills such as this. I think it sends 21 the wrong message to the youth of this state 22 to engage in violence of this nature towards 23 animals. I think it's a very unsafe practice, 24 and there's been numerous high-profile hunting 25 accidents that we've been reading about.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I think that this is an area where 2 we should be educating our citizens and the 3 youth of our state to be kind towards animals 4 and to coexist peacefully with them, and I 5 think that this bill sends the wrong message. 6 So I will continue to vote no. I vote no on 7 this bill. 8 Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 10 Serrano in the negative. 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46. Nays, 13 2. Senators Duane and Serrano recorded in the 14 negative. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1261, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 269, an 19 act to amend the Social Services Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 23 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1278, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 7 6736, an act in relation to authorizing. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: There 9 is a home-rule message at the desk. 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1284, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 7328, an 21 act to amend the Town Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: A 23 home-rule message is at the desk. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 6 Hassell-Thompson, to explain her vote. 7 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 8 you, Mr. President. 9 I commend Senator Saland on his 10 passage of this bill for Red Hook. But I 11 would like to hope that he would or someone 12 would include a land preservation act like 13 this for the entire state. 14 I will support the bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 16 Announce the results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1287, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4047A, 22 an act to amend the Banking Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 24 the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1316, substituted earlier today by Member of 10 the Assembly Pheffer, Assembly Print Number 11 632, an act to amend the Insurance Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 15 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1369, by Senator -- 24 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 25 aside.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 2 for the day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 4 bill is laid aside for the day. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1380, by Senator Maziarz -- 7 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 8 aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 10 bill is laid aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1383, by Senator Stachowski, Senate Print 13 2485, an act to amend the Penal Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 15 the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the first of 18 November. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 24 bill is passed. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 3 Fuschillo. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Calendar 5 Number 468 was laid aside temporarily. Will 6 you please take it up. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 468, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6913A, 11 an act to amend the Executive Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of January. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 20 Balboni, to explain his vote. 21 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, 22 Mr. President. Thank you very much for giving 23 me the opportunity to explain my vote. 24 I notice that in the chamber today 25 we have several young people, who probably

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 understand this bill better than anybody. All 2 of us who have pets, this bill is about 3 creating a system for emergency shelters for 4 pets. 5 One of the most enduring images 6 from the Katrina catastrophe was somebody 7 standing on their stoop with their dog and 8 people in a boat driving by and saying, "Get 9 in the boat." And him saying, "I'm not going 10 to go without my dog." 11 And if you take a look at the 12 emergency plans for the State of New York, you 13 realize there's absolutely no provision for 14 pet-friendly shelters. 15 This bill, which I'm pleased to say 16 is going to be a law because it's passed in 17 the Assembly, is going to create a system for 18 pet-friendly shelters. So hopefully we'll 19 never see in New York State, if we have a 20 catastrophe, what we saw in New Orleans. 21 I vote aye, Mr. President. Thank 22 you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 24 you, Senator Balboni. You will be recorded in 25 the affirmative.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Announce the results. 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1388, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 4163, 7 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1399, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 2275, 20 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 24 act shall take effect on the first of 25 November.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1440, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4670A, 9 an act to amend the Retirement and Social 10 Security Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1475, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 4494, an 23 act to amend Chapter 481 of the Laws of 1967. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 25 the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1496, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 6447B, 11 an act to amend the Tax Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1543, substituted earlier today by Member of 24 the Assembly Sweeney, Assembly Print Number 25 10473, an act to amend the General Municipal

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1544, substituted earlier today by Member of 14 the Assembly Ramos, Assembly Print Number 15 10482, an act to amend the Town Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect January 1, 2007. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 25 bill is passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1545, substituted earlier by Member of the 3 Assembly Sweeney, Assembly Print Number 10474, 4 an act to amend the General Municipal Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect January 1, 2007. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1578, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1721B, 17 an act to amend the Education Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 21 act shall take effect on the first of July. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1584, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 198, an 5 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1586, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 1263, 18 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 22 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 23 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Lay it 24 aside. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 bill is laid aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1594, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print -- 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 5 for the day. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 7 bill is laid aside for the day. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1595, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 3927A, an 10 act to amend the Tax Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect on the first of April. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. Nays, 19 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1598, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 4722, 24 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. Nays, 8 2. Senators Duane and Parker recorded in the 9 negative. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1599, by Senator Little, Senate Print 4912B, 14 an act to grant Christopher Paiser performance 15 of duty disability retirement benefits. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 25 bill is passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1600, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 4936A, an 3 act to amend the Correction Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the first of 8 November. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1601, substituted earlier today by the 17 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 18 Number 8760, an act authorizing the assessor 19 of the Town of Delaware. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1602, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 5231A, 7 an act to amend the Correction Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1603, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 5681A, 20 an act to amend the Tax Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 24 act shall take effect on the first of January. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1604, by Senator Duane, Senate Print 5772, an 8 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1605, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 6008, an 21 act to amend the Social Services Law and the 22 Real Property Tax Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 24 the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. Nays, 6 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1606, substituted earlier by Member of the 11 Assembly Burling, Assembly Print Number 9620, 12 an act in relation to granting. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: A 14 home-rule message is at the desk. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 23 bill is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1607, substituted earlier by Member of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Bradley, Assembly Print Number 9619, 2 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the first of January. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1613, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 6816, an 15 act to amend the New York State Urban 16 Development Corporation Act. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1614, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6819, an 4 act to amend the Tax Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: There 6 is a local fiscal impact note at the desk. 7 Read the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1616, substituted earlier today by Member of 18 the Assembly Cahill, Assembly Print Number 19 10740B, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 20 Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect on the first of January. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 4 Breslin, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. 7 I concur with this bill by Senator 8 Bonacic. I have a similar bill that hopefully 9 will be taken up. 10 As you know, firefighters 11 throughout this state are diminishing in 12 numbers, and we have to create incentives to 13 allow participation by volunteer firefighters. 14 And accordingly, I vote yea. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 16 you, Senator Breslin. You will be recorded in 17 the affirmative. 18 Announce the results. 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1617, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 7003, 24 an act to authorize. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: A

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 home-rule message is at the desk. 2 Read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1618, by Senator Young, Senate Print 7016, an 13 act to exempt. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 15 the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 23 bill is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1619, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 7022, an

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act authorizing the Village of Alexandria Bay. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: There 10 is a home-rule message at the desk. 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1620, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 7309, 17 an act to authorize the Town of Smithtown. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: A 19 home-rule message is at the desk. 20 Read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1621, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 6 7333A, an act to authorize. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1622, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 7843, 19 an act to amend the Penal Law and others. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 60. This 23 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 3 bill is passed. 4 That completes the noncontroversial 5 calendar. 6 Senator Fuschillo. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 8 President, will you please ring the bells as 9 we proceed to read the controversial calendar. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 11 Secretary will ring the bell to get the 12 members in the chamber. 13 Senator Fuschillo. 14 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 15 President, if we could start the reading of 16 the controversial calendar with Calendar 17 Number 460, Senator Golden's bill. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 19 Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 460, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6771, an 22 act to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal 23 Procedure Law. 24 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: 25 Explanation.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 2 Golden, an explanation has been requested. 3 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 Today we are passing a bill, Number 6 6771, that would reinstate the death 7 penalty -- or I shouldn't say reinstate, but 8 would put the death penalty into effect for 9 those that would kill a police officer or a 10 state trooper, a peace officer, or a person 11 that is employed by the correctional 12 institutions. 13 It also would go after terrorism 14 offenders, criminal possession of chemical 15 weapons and biological weapons offenders, and 16 criminal use of those weapons, both biological 17 and chemical weapons. 18 Today we have in the audience, on 19 the balcony, Mr. and Mrs. Corr. Joseph Corr 20 was their son, who was gunned down here in the 21 state of New York at the age of 30. 22 This bill would allow for us to put 23 into place a death penalty for those that 24 would intentionally kill a peace officer, 25 correctional officer, or police officer,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 pursuant to the provisions of the current law. 2 Section 4 of this bill also amends 3 the provision of the current law to permit the 4 imposition by the jury of the death penalty 5 upon a person convicted in murder in the first 6 degree of a police officer, peace officer, or 7 an employee of the Department of Correctional 8 Services. 9 We need this law, and I would hope 10 that my colleagues would join me on both sides 11 of the room in voting for this law, so that we 12 can send a message across this state that we 13 are not going to put up with people killing 14 and murdering our officers here in the city 15 and state of New York. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 17 you, Senator Golden. 18 Senator Diaz. 19 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 Through you, Mr. President, would 22 the sponsor yield for a question or two. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 24 Golden, will you yield? 25 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes, I do.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 2 Continue. 3 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Golden, 4 this bill only includes people that kill 5 police officers, correctional officers, and 6 peace officers. Why do you not include people 7 that kill senior citizens, bodegueros, taxi 8 drivers or men and women that kills their 9 respective spouses or their children? How 10 come they were not included there? 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator, 12 unfortunately we do need an expanded death 13 penalty. And I believe Dale Volker's bill 14 will be coming up, and hopefully you will vote 15 for that bill if you will not vote for this 16 bill. 17 But we believe, we're looking at a 18 bill passed here in the State Senate, and in 19 the State Assembly that the Assembly itself 20 will see the value in passing a bill that 21 would protect and give the tools to our police 22 officers and our state troopers, our peace 23 officers and others here in the state of 24 New York. 25 If they would not, these criminals

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 today, if they have no respect for that thin 2 blue line, that thin line that protects us and 3 keeps us between civility and anarchy, and 4 they would gun down a police officer 5 intentionally and kill that police officer, 6 what does your life or the life of a senior 7 citizen or the life of a child mean to them? 8 It means nothing. Once you take that life of 9 that officer, you've crossed the line. 10 And it's a message to send to the 11 people here in the State of New York that 12 we're not going to put up with it. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: Through you, 14 Mr. President, will the sponsor yield for 15 another question. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 17 Golden, will you continue to yield? 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: I do. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 20 Continue. 21 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Golden, do 22 you think that the life of a senior citizen, a 23 battered woman, or a child killed by a child 24 abuser has less value than a police officer or 25 a correctional officer or a peace officer?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator Diaz, 2 walk away from your talking points and speak 3 to the actions of what's going on here in the 4 city and state of New York. 5 Between June and December of last 6 year, we had nine police officers gunned down. 7 We had four killed last year. We have another 8 two killed this year. We had scores wounded. 9 We have an Elmira police officer, Sean Brown, 10 who was gunned down over the weekend, was shot 11 in the stomach. Thank God he's still alive. 12 I'm saying that we can't get a bill 13 passed that you want, that your colleagues in 14 the Assembly and you and your side will not 15 pass that law, the one that would enhance all 16 of those -- senior citizens, children, and 17 people that we should have a death penalty 18 for. 19 But I'm saying here's a bill that 20 you can support, here's a bill that the Senate 21 and the Assembly can support for that parent 22 up there that lost their son that was gunned 23 down here in the state of New York and for the 24 police officers across this city and state of 25 New York, that that is the thin blue line that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 we are going to protect. 2 That thin blue line is the 3 difference between civility and anarchy. And 4 if you're going to cross the line there, 5 there's not much that a child or a senior 6 citizen's life cares about. They don't care. 7 So do the right thing, Senator, and 8 support us on this bill. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 10 through you, will the sponsor yield for 11 another question. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 13 Golden, will you yield for another question? 14 SENATOR GOLDEN: I certainly 15 will. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: I admire your 17 emotion and I admire your passion. And I see 18 all the people, wherever, you're saying 19 that -- yes, my daughter, my daughter is a 20 police officer, a sergeant in the City of 21 New York. But, Senator, you know, I know that 22 police officers have been killed. And I 23 sympathize with the family of the police 24 officer here. 25 But I assure you, with all the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 passion and all the emotion that you are 2 talking about, that there are more -- senior 3 citizens, bodegueros, taxi drivers are being 4 killed in masses. And they deserve to be 5 respected too, they deserve to be considered 6 too, because they are senior citizens with no 7 one to protect them. So I wish you'd use the 8 same passion and the same emotion that you're 9 using to protect senior citizens too. 10 But my question is this, Senator. 11 If a person sits down to plan a robbery in a 12 bodega, or a taxi driver, and that person, he 13 or she buys a gun, a firearm, loads that 14 firearm and goes into a bodega or to a senior 15 citizen's home or to a taxi driver to rob 16 those people, and in that process that person 17 takes the life away of a senior citizen, of a 18 bodeguero, is that a premeditated murder to 19 you, yes or no? Yes or no. 20 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator Diaz, 21 the answer is yes. 22 I believe, and I'm hoping that 23 you're telling me, that not only will you 24 support my bill for those that the death of a 25 police officer -- that would kill a police

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 officer here in the city and state of 2 New York, but that you will support Senator 3 Volker's bill that deals exactly with that 4 issue. 5 Will you vote for Senator Volker's 6 bill that deals with killing that senior 7 citizen, that deals with killing that child, 8 will you vote for that, Senator Diaz? 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Will you -- 10 through you, Mr. President. 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: Answer my 12 question, Senator Diaz. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm the one asking 14 the questions here, sir. 15 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator Diaz, 16 answer my question. 17 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm the one asking 18 the questions here. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 20 Schneiderman, why do you rise? 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Point of 22 order. 23 Ladies and gentlemen, this is an 24 emotional issue. We're going to have a long 25 debate today. May I just request that, as per

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the rules of this chamber, we speak through 2 the chair when addressing each other, as 3 Senator Diaz is now attempting to do. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 5 you, Senator Schneiderman. 6 Senator Diaz, will you answer the 7 question or not? 8 SENATOR DIAZ: Through you, 9 Mr. President -- 10 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 11 I've asked the question, Mr. President, and 12 I'd like to get an answer. So could I get 13 that question answered -- 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 15 Golden is actually -- 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Sir, I'm 17 responding to your question, through the 18 President. 19 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, sir. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm Puerto Rican 21 and black, but I know about this business. 22 (Laughter.) 23 SENATOR GOLDEN: And you're a 24 good man. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: We are talking

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 today not to Senator Volker's bill, we are 2 talking about your bill, the one that you 3 ignore -- the bill that you have ignored to 4 protect senior citizens and charge on children 5 and bodegueros. We're talking about that 6 bill. 7 And now, today, I'm asking you 8 today to that bill. So forget about Senator 9 Volker's bill. Let's concentrate on your 10 bill, because you are the one that have 11 neglected to protect senior citizens. And you 12 are the chairman of the senior citizen 13 committee. I'm talking about that bill. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 15 Diaz, do you have a question? 16 SENATOR DIAZ: He asked me a 17 question. I'm responding to it -- 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 19 I'm waiting for the response to my question. 20 And instead of a response I'm getting a -- 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Let's 22 have a little order in here. 23 SENATOR DIAZ: Let's have order 24 in here. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Diaz has the floor. He's asked Senator 2 Golden -- could you rephrase the question, 3 Senator Diaz? 4 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, I 5 have yet to get an answer to the question that 6 I've asked. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 8 Currently he's asked you to yield, Senator 9 Golden. After he asks his question, you can 10 ask your question. 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: I refuse to 12 yield until I get an answer to my question. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Okay. 14 He refuses to yield. 15 SENATOR DIAZ: Oh, Senator 16 Golden. The answer to your question is that I 17 am addressing today your bill. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 19 Diaz, do you yield or do you want to speak on 20 the bill? 21 SENATOR DIAZ: I yield. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: He 23 yields. 24 SENATOR GOLDEN: I'm asking the 25 Senator for an answer to my question. And his

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 question to me was would I vote for an 2 individual, a senior citizen or a child that 3 was gunned down or killed by a bad guy, a guy 4 that would take a life. And I'd say yes, I 5 would vote for a bill. 6 And I'd asked Senator Diaz, since 7 that is what he's been asking of me and why 8 I'm not putting that bill forward -- and I'm 9 asking of him that Senator Dale Volker is 10 putting that bill forward today, and that we 11 discuss that bill today, that he would vote 12 for that bill. 13 And I'm asking him, since he's 14 asked me about senior citizens and children 15 and I've asked him would he vote for the death 16 penalty, Dale Volker's bill that has senior 17 citizens and children in it, since that is his 18 passion, that he would give me an honest 19 answer that's in his heart and not on his 20 talking papers. 21 SENATOR DIAZ: My turn now? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 23 Diaz, to answer the question. 24 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. 25 Senator Golden, when the time comes

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 for that bill, I will have an answer for that 2 bill. Today, now, right now, we are talking 3 about Bill 460, sponsored by you, Senator 4 Golden, the chairman of the Aging Committee. 5 So when that time comes, I will 6 have an answer to you. But now my answer to 7 you is that is the life of a senior citizen 8 worth less than the life of -- 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 10 Diaz, are you asking Senator Golden to yield 11 for a question? 12 SENATOR DIAZ: No, Mr. 13 Chairman -- Mr. President, I want to speak on 14 the bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Okay. 16 Senator Diaz, on the bill. 17 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, sir. 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: I'd like to 19 answer the question. And the answer to my 20 question is -- 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: I 22 believe you've already answered it, Senator 23 Golden. 24 SENATOR GOLDEN: No, I want to 25 answer it one more time.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 So that, Mr. President, I'd like 2 Senator Diaz to understand that I am going to 3 vote for that child or that senior citizen 4 today. I am going to vote for Dale Volker's 5 bill. And I would hope that you would vote 6 for Dale Volker's bill that addresses the 7 death of a senior and the death of a child. 8 But right now I am addressing -- 9 SENATOR CONNOR: Point of order, 10 Mr. President. 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: -- my bill, 12 which is that of a police officer that's 13 killed here in the city and state of New York. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 15 Connor. 16 SENATOR GOLDEN: -- and for the 17 police officers across the state and the city 18 of New York. 19 SENATOR CONNOR: Point of order. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: All 21 right, let's get some order in here. 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, on 23 the bill. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 25 Diaz has the floor. He is speaking on the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 bill. Let's continue there. 2 Thank you, Senator Golden. Senator 3 Diaz, continue. 4 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Diaz. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 As the father of a New York City 9 police sergeant, I can sympathize with the 10 pain of the family of any other officer -- 11 correction officer, police officer, or peace 12 officer -- who has been killed in the line of 13 duty, knowing that at any time my family could 14 be next. I want to make it clear that I fully 15 support those brave men and women who risk 16 their lives in their daily work. 17 However, saying that, I would like 18 to share with you some of my concern about 19 Senator Golden's legislation. First, 20 according to the statistics reported in the 21 New York Post on Monday, December 19, 2005, in 22 New York City during that year, 2005, there 23 were 509 killings, homicides: 62 percent of 24 those killings were committed with guns, 25 59 percent of the victims, 59 percent of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 victims were blacks; 29 percent were 2 Hispanics; 8 percent of the victims were 3 white. 4 These statistics show that out of 5 509 homicides or killings in New York City in 6 2005, 88 percent of those victims were blacks 7 and Hispanics. These statistics I suppose 8 include grocery store owners and workers of 9 stores called bodegueros. These I suppose 10 include taxi drivers, especially livery car 11 drivers called gypsies. These statistics I 12 suppose include senior citizens, children, and 13 women killed by rapists and every other 14 citizen in the black and the Hispanic 15 community. 16 After reading these statistics, I 17 have to ask myself, Senator Golden and 18 colleagues, I have to ask myself the following 19 question. If black and Hispanics, bodegueros, 20 taxi drivers, children, battered women and 21 senior citizens are the ones getting killed, 22 why support legislation that only applies to 23 that who kill a police officer, a correctional 24 officer, or a peace officer and fails to 25 include the rest of the population?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 My daughter, as I said before, is 2 a -- my only daughter is a member of the 3 New York City Police Department. She's a 4 sergeant. And as I said before, at any time, 5 I repeat, my family could be subject to the 6 same suffering of many other families of 7 police officers in the city of New York or 8 anywhere in the state. 9 Nonetheless, I have to ask myself 10 the following question. I have to ask myself 11 if the life of a police officer, a 12 correctional officer or a peace officer is 13 worth more than the life of a bodeguero, than 14 a taxi driver, than a senior citizen, than 15 children or the battered woman or than any 16 other resident of New York State. 17 Are we sending, Senator Golden and 18 fellow colleagues, are we sending a message to 19 criminals out there telling them that if they 20 want to kill someone that they will be better 21 off choosing a bodeguero, a taxi driver, a 22 senior citizen, a child, a battered woman or 23 anybody else because they will be getting less 24 sentence that way? 25 I am in support of legislation that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 increases the penalty on anyone that kills or 2 takes the life of a police officer, a 3 correctional officer or a peace officer or 4 anyone else. I believe that if we are going 5 to send a message to criminals out there and 6 we want to stop crime in New York State once 7 and for all, we have to toughen penalties for 8 the killing of anyone. 9 By the way, why should the penalty 10 be for a police officer or a correctional 11 officer or a peace officer that with malice, 12 with abuse, and with neglect takes the life 13 away of a civilian? Would this have been 14 included there? 15 Back on October 12th, Police 16 Officer Brian Conroy shot and killed 17 Mr. Ousmane Zongo. Police Officer Conroy was 18 found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. 19 The penalty given to that police officer for 20 killing a black guy in New York City was five 21 years in prison and 500 hours of community 22 service. 23 Finally, I ask myself, what is our 24 message to New Yorkers? Is it that a police 25 officer and a correctional officer and a peace

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 officer's life is better than any other life? 2 Ladies and gentlemen, my daughter, 3 as I said before, is a police officer. And I 4 love my daughter. She's my only daughter. I 5 love police officers. And I love correctional 6 officers. And I love peace officers. But I 7 also love unborn babies that are being killed 8 by thousands every day. Those babies are 9 being killed in a premeditated and 10 unconscionable way by the same people that 11 oppose the death penalty for criminals. 12 And here's my answer, my response 13 to Senator Golden's question. And I'm going 14 to close with this. Because I deeply respect 15 life in all shapes or forms, because I do not 16 believe in killing anyone, and because I 17 believe that life is sacred and beautiful and 18 because I don't believe in abortion, for those 19 reasons and for other reasons, I will oppose 20 this legislation and any other legislation to 21 deal with taking life away. 22 Thank you, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 24 Meier. 25 SENATOR MEIER: Thank you,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. 2 You know, since I've been here 3 there have been some days that I walk out of 4 the chamber and I shake my head, not believing 5 what I've heard. And this is going to be one 6 of those days. 7 I mean, let's talk about the 8 reality of the bills that are on the floor and 9 why this particular bill is on the floor 10 first. This bill is on the floor dealing 11 particularly with the subject of police 12 officers because the other body so far has 13 shown absolutely no interest in doing anything 14 with the death penalty. Nothing. 15 And so we look around us at what 16 has occurred in this state since just January 17 of this year, nine police shootings, and you 18 have to think in terms of our responsibility 19 to protect the public that maybe we can get 20 something, anything done that the other body 21 will vote on. And so maybe, just maybe we can 22 get something done that addresses the 23 immediate problem of this attack on our police 24 officers. That's why this bill is before us. 25 And maybe -- let's talk about this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 business, if you will, that this somehow 2 demeans the lives of other people, that this 3 somehow establishes that police officers' 4 lives are worth more. The first people that I 5 know who would reject that notion that this 6 stands for the proposition that a police 7 officer's life is worth more would be police 8 officers themselves. 9 You know, police officers leave 10 their homes every day, they go out to do a 11 dangerous and uncertain job. And they 12 understand that and they accept it, and they 13 tend to be people who for the most part are 14 pretty humble about it. They don't make a big 15 deal about it. They don't talk about it. 16 They calmly accept it as something that 17 they're sworn to do. 18 And police officers will tell you 19 also that they believe that 99 percent of 20 people in society obey the law, not because 21 they're afraid of police officers but because 22 people understand in our society that you 23 maintain a civil society by respecting each 24 other as people, by respecting each other's 25 property, and by respecting life and by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 respecting everyone else's humanity. 2 There's a 1 percent out there, or 3 maybe even less, who have none of that in 4 their hearts, in their minds, or in their 5 souls. There are people out there who believe 6 only in taking care of themselves. There are 7 people out there for whom every decision in 8 life is a calculation about will I get caught 9 and what's going to happen to me. 10 And you know what? When I look at 11 what happened in the town of New Hartford to 12 Joe Corr, let me tell you something. There's 13 a name for people like that, and it's evil. 14 If that's not evil, evil has no name. And 15 that's what this is about. 16 And I see an empty chair on the 17 other side of the aisle. Some things are 18 tough to hear. 19 When someone attacks a police 20 officer, they are not just attacking one 21 person, they are not just attacking one life. 22 They are saying to the rest of people in civil 23 society who obey the law and lead their lives 24 and want everyone else to do the same: You 25 think you're safe? You think we can't get

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 you? You think we can't hurt your family or 2 your child if we can kill a police officer? 3 That's the message they're sending. 4 And so the response from those of 5 us who have taken an oath of office is to do 6 something about that. 7 You know what? We've heard a lot 8 of talk this year about things that are the 9 responsibility of the state. We hear a lot of 10 talk and a lot of hot air in this town about 11 our responsibility to take care of education, 12 about our responsibility to build roads and 13 bridges, about our responsibility to take care 14 of healthcare, about our responsibility to 15 children and our communities. You want to 16 know something? It's all meaningless, it all 17 means nothing unless people feel safe in their 18 homes and in their communities and in their 19 neighborhoods. 20 And when you permit people to 21 murder a police officer, they cross one of the 22 most fundamental lines that the law draws. 23 They attack not just that police officer, they 24 attack all of us, they attack the very 25 underpinnings of civil society itself, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 they say to you and to us, Your laws mean 2 nothing. 3 The response in Senator Golden's 4 bill is one that is dictated by the 5 circumstances we find ourselves in this town 6 and the attitude of the other body. It is a 7 bill dictated by recent tragic events around 8 this state. It is a bill whose time has come. 9 And I'm going to vote for it with a great deal 10 of determination and pride, and it is my firm 11 conviction that so will the vast majority of 12 my colleagues. 13 Thank you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 15 you, Senator Meier. 16 Senator Marcellino. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 I respect my colleague Senator Diaz 20 for his comments. He must have done a good 21 job in raising his daughter, because she took 22 on a profession that is inherently dangerous, 23 and I respect that. She's got good values. 24 She demonstrates it by putting her life on the 25 line on a daily basis to protect people in her

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 community. 2 That is what police officers do. 3 They put their lives on the line. They stand 4 between us and the bad people. They stand 5 between civil society and chaos. That's what 6 they do. For that, they deserve our 7 protection. 8 It is not a matter of whether we 9 are considering their life worth more than 10 others. That's not the question. That truly 11 isn't the question. The question is, do we 12 want a civil society or not? Do we want 13 people to go out there and step in between us 14 and violence? 15 That cab driver that was talked 16 about, we don't expect that cab driver to get 17 out of his cab and stop crime. That's not his 18 job. That's not his job. That grandmother 19 that you talked about, we don't expect her to 20 step out of her life and go out of her house 21 and into the street and stop violent crime. 22 But we do expect it of our police officers, 23 the men and women who wear the uniform. 24 By the way, they wear a uniform. 25 It's a target. They stand out. We do it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 deliberately. We want them to be seen. We 2 want them to be noticed. We want the bad 3 people to say, Aha, there are police out 4 there, I better not do this. 5 For that risk, for that risk, 6 putting their lives on the line to protect 7 society -- who is society? It's our wives, 8 our husbands, our children, our relatives, our 9 friends, our neighbors. They're protecting 10 you and me. For that risk, they deserve a 11 little extra help. They deserve to be told 12 that, yes, the State of New York is behind 13 you. 14 And if someone decides to thumb 15 their nose, as Senator Meier has so correctly 16 pointed out, at authority, at our laws, and 17 say, We're going to take down the law 18 protectors, we're going to take down the 19 law-keepers, the peacekeepers, to show you 20 that we're in charge, that we rule -- when you 21 can do that, then you really have no society 22 at all. 23 The neighborhood you live in would 24 not be safe without those police officers out 25 there. Without them willing to put it on the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 line, we have no protections. We have no 2 safety. 3 So to give them a little extra 4 help, to say to them, yes, society considers 5 your life worth something -- yes, we want you 6 to do that, we respect you for doing that, and 7 if you're doing that, if someone goes after 8 you and someone takes you down, we're going to 9 take them down severely -- that's the least we 10 can do for these people. 11 Mr. President, I urge all of our 12 colleagues: Support this bill. It is 13 reasonable. It is reasonable. We have 14 another bill out there, and we'll debate that 15 bill next, probably. This bill right now is a 16 reasonable bill. Thanks, Senator Golden, for 17 bringing it up. It's time, it's time to pass 18 this measure and put it on the books. 19 I intend to vote aye, and I urge 20 everyone else to do so. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 22 Winner. 23 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 24 Mr. President and my colleagues. 25 On March 1 of this year in 2006,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Trooper Andy Sperr was out doing his job in 2 the town of Big Flats in Chemung County when 3 he encountered a car that was parked in a 4 strange location. 5 Unbeknownst to Trooper Sperr, the 6 individuals in that car had just been involved 7 in a bank robbery only minutes before and were 8 in the process of switching cars when Trooper 9 Sperr, in an effort to deter what he thought 10 might be a suspicious vehicle, approached that 11 vehicle -- doing his job, protecting us on a 12 daily basis -- when one individual named Andy 13 Horton opened fire with a .357 magnum and shot 14 him repeatedly as he approached that vehicle 15 and left him for dead while he bled to death 16 at the side of the road. 17 Now, I don't know who among us 18 thinks that that individual ought to be 19 treated with any type of compassion or 20 sympathy. But this legislator doesn't think 21 so and thinks that while we can debate issues 22 of deterrence, we can debate issues of whether 23 or not a death penalty statute is going to 24 prevent a future occurrence such as Andy 25 Horton or someone of his ilk firing on a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 police officer, one thing we can know for sure 2 is that the death penalty is an appropriate 3 punishment for the type of act that was 4 committed by Mr. Horton on that afternoon in 5 March of this year. 6 Now, just last weekend Trooper Sean 7 Brown in the town of Veteran in Chemung County 8 approached a vehicle that had stopped at 9 1 o'clock in the morning, approached that 10 vehicle, and he was fired upon by an 11 individual in that vehicle and struck and 12 wounded and was taken to the hospital. And 13 fortunately, he is recovering and has been 14 released today from the St. Joseph's Hospital 15 in Elmira. 16 What is going on here? We cannot 17 tolerate this society attacking police 18 officers and troopers in this state or in this 19 nation. We cannot withstand the type of 20 penetration of that thin blue line that stands 21 between us and anarchy and allow these types 22 of attacks on authority to occur. 23 We have got to have, as a 24 fundamental right, the ability to be safe and 25 secure in our homes. And those that would

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 attack police officers have the type of 2 depravity that is necessary for us to impose 3 the most significant punishment that is 4 available, and that is capital punishment. 5 And I would urge all of you to support that, 6 recognizing that without that type of 7 protection, we are not safe. 8 Now, the New York State Assembly, 9 where I served when we passed the death 10 penalty, they with great fanfare, and 11 practically about 94 members, voted in favor 12 of imposing capital punishment. I voted in 13 favor of it back then, as did many, many 14 members of both sides of the aisle, and 15 including with the support of the Speaker of 16 Assembly. 17 Now, all of a sudden, we have a 18 glitch in the technical side of the imposition 19 of capital punishment in this state that can 20 be easily fixed without going into the merits 21 as to whether we have capital punishment or 22 not. We have capital punishment on the books 23 in this state, and the Speaker of Assembly and 24 the members of that side of the aisle over in 25 the New York State Assembly who are hiding

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 between the skirts of Judge Kaye refuse to 2 allow the will of the people to be in place 3 with regard to death penalty going forward. 4 They don't have the political guts 5 to repeal the death penalty; they just want to 6 hide behind the Court of Appeals' 7 technicalities and refuse to have the will of 8 the people in place as far as having capital 9 punishment on the books. 10 We have capital punishment. Let 11 the people's will, as was expressed by the 12 vast majority of the New York State Assembly 13 in 1995, get in place and have that particular 14 statute go forward. 15 We need this bill on the books. We 16 need to protect the Andy Sperrs of this world. 17 We need to make sure our correction officers 18 are safe when they're guarding individuals who 19 are sentenced for multiple murders with life 20 without parole who have nothing to lose in our 21 correctional facilities. We need that 22 protection for those people who put their 23 lives on the line for us every single day. 24 Let's pass this measure, let's pass 25 the Volker bill and stop this nonsense of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 hiding between the Court of Appeals on a 2 technicality and denying the will of the 3 people of the State of New York to have 4 capital punishment on the books. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 6 you, Senator Winner. 7 Senator Diaz, for a second time. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I just want to ask a simple 11 question and ask my colleagues to stop the 12 political spinning. Do not try to insult our 13 intelligence. No one here, no one here 14 supports or is in favor of killing police 15 officers. No one. So you are making believe 16 that, oh, the Democrats and that side, they 17 want police officers to be killed. Please. 18 You have a police officer's family 19 there. Respect them, respect their 20 intelligence. Don't play with our 21 intelligence. People know better. 22 The simple question is, you see 23 those children over there? You see those 24 children? How will you tell the mother of one 25 of those children that has been raped and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 killed, why -- how will you tell them how come 2 they were not included in that bill? How come 3 you only include in the death penalty people 4 that kill police officers? What about those 5 that kill children? Why didn't you include 6 them? Why didn't you include the one that 7 kills bodegueros and taxi drivers? Why didn't 8 you include those that kill women? 9 That's a simple question. But 10 you -- no, over there, you now try to make 11 political statements, and it's political 12 spinning: Oh, oh, let's stop crime. Let's 13 stop crime? Who is asking you not to stop 14 crime? Stop the political spinning. Stop 15 playing with people's intelligence. People 16 know more than that. 17 The simple question is, if you want 18 the death penalty, if you want the death 19 penalty, why do you only want it for those 20 that kill police officers? Why don't you 21 include the rest of the people that kill other 22 people? That's the simple question. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 24 Golden, why do you rise? 25 SENATOR GOLDEN: Will Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Diaz yield for a question? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 3 Diaz, will you yield for a question? 4 SENATOR DIAZ: Of course I yield 5 for a question. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Yes, he 7 will. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm in that mood 9 today. 10 SENATOR GOLDEN: You seem to 11 think that we're insulting your intelligence. 12 You seem to think that we're grandstanding. 13 And you seem to think that we don't love 14 children and senior citizens because they're 15 not in our bill. 16 And I've expressed to you that 17 there is a bill, Dale Volker's bill, that does 18 do that. But we know that you won't vote for 19 that. So we put on a bill here for police 20 officers that are being gunned down across the 21 city and state of New York. And we ask you to 22 turn around and vote not only for my bill but 23 for Dale Volker's bill. 24 So that that is really 25 grandstanding. And the guy that's really

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 insulting people's intelligence in this room, 2 sir, is you. And unfortunately -- 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 4 Golden -- 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: What is 6 the question, Mr. President? 7 SENATOR GOLDEN: The question 8 is -- I'm going to the question, Senator. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: This is getting 10 good. 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: And the question 12 is, sir, will you support the death penalty 13 for children and for seniors? 14 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 16 Diaz. 17 SENATOR DIAZ: Do I have the 18 floor? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: You 20 yielded for the question. 21 SENATOR DIAZ: Again -- again, 22 I'm saying here -- again, I'm saying here that 23 I respect life. I'm opposed to abortion. I 24 respect life in all shapes and forms. I don't 25 believe in death for anyone. I don't believe

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 in death penalty for children, for unborn 2 babies. I don't believe in death, period. 3 I'm saying, I'm saying here if you 4 are so eager to bring the death penalty, why 5 don't you include those that kill, with 6 premeditation, their spouses? Why don't you 7 include those that kill, in your bill -- I'm 8 talking about, Mr. President -- 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 10 Diaz, at this point you can answer the 11 question or refuse to yield. 12 SENATOR DIAZ: No, I have the 13 floor, Mr. President. I want to speak on the 14 bill, and I have the floor. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: But you 16 yielded to Senator Golden. So you can either 17 answer the question -- 18 SENATOR DIAZ: No, no, I have the 19 floor. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: So 21 you're going to refuse to yield on the 22 question. 23 SENATOR DIAZ: I want to continue 24 with my statement, Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Okay.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Continue on the bill. 2 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes. I'm saying 3 if you are so deeply concerned to bring the 4 death penalty, go ahead. Nobody's stopping 5 you from doing it. But stop the spinning. 6 And we're talking about this bill, 7 this specific bill, brought out to the floor 8 by a person that is the chairman of the Aging 9 Committee. If I were the chairman of the 10 Aging Committee, I would protect the aging in 11 any shape or form. If I were the chairman of 12 the Aging Committee, I would protect my aging 13 no matter what. 14 So I'm talking about this bill, 15 because I am a member of the Aging Committee 16 too and I was the chairman of the aging 17 committee in the City Council. And I'm tired 18 of people ignoring senior citizens and not 19 including them in bills. Oh, in another bill 20 we'll deal with that. No, no, no. Another 21 bill tomorrow. (Singing.) Tomorrow, 22 tomorrow. It's not tomorrow, it's today. 23 And stop, stop trying to say that 24 we don't care about police officers' lives. 25 My daughter is a police officer, my only

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 daughter. So don't insult our intelligence 2 and don't spin no more. The question is why, 3 why, why children and women and senior 4 citizens were not included in this bill. 5 That's my question. 6 So stop saying: Oh, what will you 7 tell the family of the police officer there, 8 what will you tell the people out there? Oh, 9 that we want police officers to be killed. 10 The Democrat party, this side of 11 the aisle, don't want police officers to be 12 killed. We protect police officers and we 13 protect everybody. We want crime to stop, 14 period. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 17 Parker. Why aren't you in your seat? 18 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, 19 on the bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: On the 21 bill. 22 SENATOR PARKER: This has been, I 23 think, an important debate and a great debate 24 that really kind of reflects kind of where we 25 are as a state and really how important we

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 think this issue is. 2 And I want to thank Senator Golden, 3 because I know that he has a particular 4 interest in this, being a former officer 5 himself. I know he has the best intentions. 6 We come from the same county. I know that he 7 deals with same kind of issues that I deal 8 with as it relates to crime in our communities 9 and making sure that the people are safe. 10 I really wanted to relate myself to 11 some of the comments made by Senator Meier. 12 And I thought they were important because we 13 have, this year, been talking about education 14 funding and healthcare and we're talking about 15 housing and transportation. And he's 16 absolutely right that none of those things 17 mean anything if we don't have a civil society 18 where people feel they're protected. And I 19 think that we ought to be looking at how we in 20 fact better protect our communities. 21 And while I think that this bill is 22 well-meaning, I'm not sure that it again goes 23 to the place that we ought to be going to. 24 Unfortunately, unfortunately what 25 we know is that bills that dole out extreme

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 punishments like the death penalty are 2 ineffective at preventing crime. They're 3 ineffective at preventing crime. So we're 4 looking at how do we in fact decrease the 5 number of deaths that are happening in our 6 community. And I'm less concerned with this 7 bill and more concerned with both this bill 8 and the Volker bill as relates to the death 9 penalty, period. 10 That death penalty bills do not 11 prevent crimes. They don't prevent crimes 12 against police officers or other kind of law 13 enforcement. They don't prevent crimes 14 against, you know, victims of domestic 15 violence. They don't prevent crimes against, 16 you know, women or seniors or anyone else. 17 They don't prevent crimes. 18 When we look at the statistics 19 across the country, when we look at other 20 states that have very active death penalties, 21 their crime rates have not dropped in 22 relationship to having the death penalty. 23 When you look at reports done by places like 24 the Institute for Justice right here in 25 New York City, the experts there will tell you

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 that the death penalty does not prevent crime. 2 So the question then is what does 3 prevent crime. And when we look at it, the 4 things that prevent crime, and particularly 5 violent crime, is doing things like increasing 6 the economy, providing full-time jobs at a 7 living wage with benefits. It is making sure 8 that people have proper housing. 9 It's kind of interesting that, 10 again, Senator Meier is right that you can't 11 have these things unless you have safety. But 12 it's interesting also to note that having 13 proper healthcare, funding schools fully, 14 having proper housing actually helps you 15 prevent crime. Because when people have 16 well -- 17 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 19 Meier, why do you rise? 20 SENATOR MEIER: Will the Senator 21 yield. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 23 Parker. 24 SENATOR PARKER: When I finish, 25 I'll be happy to yield. When I finish

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 speaking on the bill, I'll be happy to yield. 2 SENATOR MEIER: I thought so. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Okay. 4 Senator? 5 SENATOR PARKER: That having -- 6 when we properly fund education and our young 7 people are going to schools that are not just 8 teaching to the tests, that have full-time -- 9 when they have music and art and dance and 10 athletics as regular parts of the curriculum, 11 when we're doing things to have after-school 12 programs to engage our young people, when 13 we're making sure that people have 14 decent-quality, affordable housing, when 15 healthcare, both physical healthcare and 16 mental healthcare -- and hopefully we're on -- 17 not to jump on Tom Duane's bandwagon, but when 18 we start dealing with things like Timothy's 19 Law and we make sure that we're providing the 20 kind of healthcare we need both for people 21 physically and mentally, that then we will 22 have an opportunity to have real safety in our 23 communities because we'll be dealing with the 24 issues that push people to engage in crime, to 25 engage in violence.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 But there's also some things that 2 we can do from a criminal justice perspective 3 right now. There are bills out there that 4 would in fact close the loophole around gun 5 ownership. You know, right now we are not as 6 good as we ought to be on who can own a gun. 7 We have not done what we need to in terms of 8 ballistic ID'ing and making sure that we 9 extend the law to make sure we're getting 10 ballistic IDs on things like long rifles, 11 assault weapons, and shotguns, which have 12 become the weapon of choice for terrorists and 13 for many of our criminals. 14 We need to be making sure that gun 15 dealers in the state are not, you know, 16 slipping through the cracks in terms of how 17 they're dealing with guns. And we need to 18 deal with some of those criminal justice 19 things. Those have a much better effect on 20 reducing crime, making sure that we don't have 21 the kind of society where violence pervades 22 every aspect of our lives. 23 And we really can then be proud of 24 our society, because then we're preventing 25 crime and not just, you know, feeding our need

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 to have revenge when our communities are 2 wronged. 3 And I understand how strong it is. 4 In fact, no one understands more than I do. 5 But it's really important that we really don't 6 feed that need just to have revenge and we 7 really say if we're going to protect our 8 communities and we're going to make sure that 9 we are preventing crimes, that we do the 10 things that actually keep us from the point of 11 getting to a place where crime is prevalent in 12 our communities. 13 And I will yield for a question if 14 the Senator still has one. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 16 Meier. 17 SENATOR MEIER: Senator Parker, 18 you don't mean to suggest, do you -- because I 19 want to make sure that I'm clear on what I 20 thought I heard -- that people become 21 murderers because they didn't have the 22 appropriate programs in their schools? 23 SENATOR PARKER: I am suggesting 24 that when in fact that you provide the kind of 25 education that we ought to provide -- like

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 when we look at what they call third-party 2 externalities -- that is, what does education 3 provide? It doesn't just provide people 4 education, but it helps them get access to 5 jobs, jobs help people -- you know, who have 6 full-time jobs at a living wage with benefits, 7 give them the ability to make a living so thus 8 people are not going into things like, for 9 instance, drug dealing. Where they're not 10 doing drug dealing because they just want to 11 be a drug dealer; most people are drug dealing 12 because they find it a lucrative way to make 13 money. 14 If we're giving people other 15 avenues to go, so education helps to create 16 those other avenues, those other 17 opportunities. Having quality housing creates 18 those other avenues, those other 19 opportunities. Having good healthcare, you 20 know, again, allows people to have those kind 21 of opportunities in lives where crime doesn't 22 become an alternative. 23 Because typically the crimes that 24 we're talking about, particularly -- and I 25 know in Kings County are not so much, you

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 know, some of the evil people that you're 2 talking -- I know some of those folks are out 3 there. But the reality is that if we're going 4 to prevent the kind of crimes that we're 5 dealing with on a day-to-day, it is, you know, 6 people with handguns who kill a police officer 7 in the commission of another felony. Or are 8 trying to escape being captured from the 9 commission of another felony. 10 And so those are the kinds of 11 things that we can prevent if we keep people 12 from perpetrating or feeling like they're 13 trapped into perpetrating those primary 14 felonies that they're engaged in. 15 SENATOR MEIER: Will the Senator 16 continue to yield. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Will 18 you continue to yield, Senator Parker? 19 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, 20 Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Go 22 ahead, Senator Meier. 23 SENATOR MEIER: Senator, I don't 24 know what third-party externality is. 25 I do know what evil is. I've seen

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 it. Do you agree with me, Senator, that some 2 people commit murder for no other reason other 3 than they are evil, that is what is within 4 their heart, they are evil? 5 SENATOR PARKER: I wouldn't 6 necessarily agree with you. And let me give 7 you a quick public policy lesson. That when 8 you look at public policy, there are 9 consequences from public policy. You have 10 primary consequences from public policy, you 11 have secondary consequences, third -- and then 12 third, tertiary ones. Right? 13 So the first one, when we do 14 education, the first thing that happens is 15 kids, they get educated. The second thing 16 that happens to them from a secondary 17 perspective is that they actually get jobs and 18 they become more productive. Which is why we 19 have internship programs, because we're trying 20 to create a link between people's education 21 and the workforce. The third thing that 22 happens to them, as a result of having 23 full-time jobs at a living wage with benefits, 24 they actually become better citizens. And 25 that would be a tertiary consequence of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 public policy of fully funding, I don't know, 2 something random like CFE, where it would be 3 helpful in terms of that. 4 And so the more people who are 5 educated and get full-time jobs at a living 6 wage with benefits who then become good 7 citizens, the less criminals we have in our 8 society. The less criminals we have in our 9 society, the less crime, and the less need for 10 us to feed this need for revenge, which is 11 simply, I believe, what the death penalty is. 12 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President, 13 I'm not entirely satisfied, and I am 14 astounded, but I guess I'll just sit down. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 16 you. 17 Senator Schneiderman. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 If I may bring us back from more 21 metaphysical pursuits of the nature of evil or 22 the existence of evil, if the sponsor would 23 yield for a few questions, I would appreciate 24 it. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Senator, do you yield? 2 SENATOR GOLDEN: I do. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 4 Continue. 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 6 you, Mr. President, does this legislation 7 change the law of the State of New York 8 regarding convictions obtained through the 9 testimony of in-custody informants? 10 SENATOR GOLDEN: I don't believe 11 so, no. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Oh, and 13 I've got the Greek chorus behind me, but I 14 believe the answers would be the same for 15 Senator Volker's bill as well, so I welcome 16 him giving you the high sign if you misspeak. 17 But this bill and Senator Volker's 18 bill, do either one of these change the rules 19 of the State of New York regarding the need 20 for corroboration of single-eyewitness 21 testimony resulting in a conviction? 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: No. 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 24 you, Mr. President, does this bill or the next 25 bill we'll be addressing change the laws of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the State of New York regarding the need to 2 videotape interrogations of suspects? 3 SENATOR GOLDEN: No. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And 5 finally, does this bill or Senator Volker's 6 bill change the law of the State of New York 7 with regard to requiring blind lineup 8 procedures or otherwise changing the laws 9 covering lineup procedures in the State of 10 New York? 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: No, Senator, it 12 does not. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I thank 14 the sponsor for his answers. 15 Mr. President, on the bill. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: On the 17 bill. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I think 19 we're dealing with two issues here, one that 20 Senator Parker just was attempting to address 21 and the other which I'm going to raise now. 22 The first issue, which Senator 23 Parker and Senator Diaz also in part was 24 addressing, is the question of, you know, what 25 does the death penalty really do to protect

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 police officers. Does it really stop people 2 who, if you want to go with the metaphysical 3 arguments that Senator Meier has raised, are 4 truly evil? Are those people deterred? Does 5 the death penalty actually bring anyone back? 6 And I think the answer to that is no. And we 7 will speak more about that later. 8 But the second issue that I want to 9 raise now is the question of whether the death 10 penalty as it would be applied in the State of 11 New York under the current laws of the State 12 of New York will be fairly and effectively 13 applied to ensure that no innocent person is 14 subject to this ultimate sanction. 15 And I think there are people 16 here -- there are some people here who for 17 spiritual reasons, and this -- you know, I 18 don't mean to -- if I sounded at all 19 disrespectful of Senator Meier's raising the 20 question of evil, I really don't mean to be, 21 because this is really in some respects a 22 spiritual issue. A lot of people -- some 23 people, as Senator Diaz does, have a spiritual 24 and a moral objection to the death penalty, as 25 he does to abortion, and I respect the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 consistency with that. Senator Marchi is 2 another proponent of that, against the death 3 penalty, against abortion. They can truly 4 call themselves pro-life. 5 People who are for the death 6 penalty and against abortion, I think that out 7 of respect for church doctrine you should not 8 call yourself pro-life. But this is a 9 spiritual issue for some people. 10 For other people, and I put myself 11 more in that category, we're concerned because 12 the death penalty as applied in the United 13 States -- and as I believe it would be applied 14 in the New York under the current state of the 15 laws of the State of New York -- would not 16 guarantee that innocent people are not 17 executed. 18 And in fact, the death penalty as 19 applied in the United States has demonstrated 20 that there are three factors that determine 21 whether or not you get the death penalty: the 22 race of the suspect and of the victim, the 23 intelligence of the suspect, and the wealth of 24 the suspect. Those are the three things that 25 in study after study, in state after state,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 determine who gets on death row and who does 2 not. 3 Now, in New York we have people who 4 are wrongfully convicted. And I would like to 5 open the door to a question that I think will 6 come up as we enter the debate on Senator 7 Volker's bill -- we haven't held the hearings 8 that we were promised we were going to have 9 the last time we debated the death penalty. 10 Since 1995, when this Legislature 11 enacted the death penalty bill, there's a lot 12 of new evidence about innocent people being 13 convicted, about the effectiveness of the 14 death penalty, about the cost of the death 15 penalty. I believe the last time we debated 16 this we were assured we were going to have 17 hearings on it. I hope we will. The fact of 18 the matter is that innocent people are 19 convicted in New York State. 20 Newsday reported, in December 2002, 21 11 cases of 13 people being wrongfully 22 convicted of murder in the previous five 23 years. 24 Interestingly enough, the same 25 year, the Republican governor of Illinois

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 determined through a study that there were 13 2 people wrongfully convicted on death row in 3 Illinois. Now, in response to that, he did 4 what I think is the only responsible thing to 5 do and reasonable thing to do, he appointed a 6 commission to study the possibility of error 7 in capital prosecutions. 8 And the commission, among other 9 things, examined a whole series of reports, 10 including a report which I commend to the 11 sponsors of these bills by a group of 12 academics headed by James Liebman of Columbia 13 University that found, among other things, in 14 a group of states that they studied over a 15 period of years, there was a 68 percent 16 appellate reversal in capital prosecutions. 17 So the evidence started to emerge 18 early in this decade that there were serious 19 problems elsewhere. Part of that was due to 20 improvements in DNA technology, the expansions 21 of the DNA database, and things like that. 22 So the Republican governor of 23 Illinois responded by commuting the sentences 24 of everyone on death row in Illinois. 25 At the same time, also in 2003, the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 governor of Massachusetts, who was looking to 2 reintroduce the death penalty, created a 3 council on capital punishment. That council 4 met, held hearings, did studies and determined 5 that there were 10 safeguards that it deemed 6 necessary to ensuring that they would not 7 execute innocent people. Nine of those 10 8 safeguards are not present in the law of 9 New York. And the issues that I just asked 10 the sponsor about are among those safeguards. 11 We can convict people in the State 12 of New York with the testimony of an 13 in-custody defendant. That's someone who's in 14 jail looking for way to make a deal. People 15 should not be subject to the ultimate sanction 16 without corroboration of that. We do have 17 rules regarding accomplice testimony in the 18 State of New York. I would urge that those 19 need to be expanded before we move forward 20 towards enacting a death penalty. 21 Eyewitness testimony, testimony of 22 a single eyewitness -- any of you who have 23 tried a case with eyewitness testimony know 24 how difficult those can be. There are people 25 who have ended up own death row in other

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 states due to eyewitness identification by 2 single witnesses. Let's require 3 corroboration. 4 Videotaping of interrogations to 5 make sure that we know what's going on there, 6 that there aren't people being manipulated or 7 abused in any way or simply -- and again, this 8 comes to the intelligence issue of suspects -- 9 overwhelmed by the circumstances. 10 Lineup procedures. Again, this is 11 all -- this all comes out of the Massachusetts 12 study. A blind lineup procedure should be 13 required in the State of New York. The person 14 who's conducting it, the administrator, should 15 not know who the perpetrator is, lest, 16 intentionally or unintentionally, they lead 17 the witness towards identifying that person. 18 These are the kinds of things we 19 should be talking about in the State of 20 New York, these are the kinds of things we 21 should be looking at in the State of New York 22 before we enact the ultimate sanction. 23 The effort that is being made with 24 this piece of legislation -- and I don't doubt 25 the sincerity of my colleagues, who are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 frustrated. They believe in the death 2 penalty, they are frustrated by the inability 3 of it to move forward in the Assembly. But 4 the truth of the matter is, let's look at the 5 overall issue. Someone who is wrongfully 6 convicted and executed who shot a police 7 officer, that's just as disgraceful if we as a 8 society do that than if we execute someone who 9 is wrongfully convicted of killing someone 10 else. 11 The issue here is ensuring that the 12 innocent are protected. This is not something 13 we made up. This is something that was 14 nothing short of an obsession of the founders 15 of the Republic, and you can see it in the 16 writings around the drafting of the 17 Constitution. Because of the abuses by the 18 British crown, the concern for trial by jury 19 and protections in our criminal justice system 20 was something that was truly at the root of 21 the founding of this country. 22 So I think that we have to address 23 the issues that will come up now, and I'm glad 24 Senator Volker is here so I don't have to 25 repeat myself, in the context of the death

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 penalty bill that he is going to propound that 2 deals with the death penalty for every 3 crime -- or not every crime, but for the 4 killing of people other than police officers 5 as well as police officers. 6 The question is, have we done 7 everything we can do to get the most 8 up-to-date information about the efficacy of 9 the death penalty, ways to ensure that the 10 innocent are not subject to this ultimate 11 sanction? And the answer clearly is no. We 12 haven't held hearings, we haven't done 13 anything. We're just moving the same bill 14 that we moved in previous years. 15 And finally, I would like to follow 16 up on Senator Parker's point that we have to 17 do everything we can do to protect our police 18 officers. But there is no peer-reviewed 19 scientific study that has ever demonstrated 20 that the death penalty stops the evil people, 21 if Senator Meier's contention is valid, or 22 just people who are caught up in things and 23 end up pulling that trigger -- there is no 24 peer-reviewed scientific study that 25 demonstrates that those people are deterred.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Indeed, from my own experience 2 spending a couple of years working at a 3 prison, I think the most out-of-control 4 criminals are the hardest to deter. 5 If you want to have the death 6 penalty for securities fraud, you'll have the 7 cleanest markets in the history of the world, 8 but I don't think anyone is proposing that. 9 That's a group of people, white-collar 10 criminals, that can be -- uh-oh, now I'm 11 giving Dale ideas. The white-collar criminals 12 can be deterred. 13 I don't think people who are so out 14 of whack that they would kill a police officer 15 are deterred. That's my personal opinion. 16 But let me read now a statement 17 from police officers who wrote this in 18 response to the death penalty bill, when this 19 was first advanced, relating to police 20 officers. And I just want to put this into 21 the record. 22 It states: "We are current and 23 former police officers. Every time one of our 24 fellow officers is injured or killed, we feel 25 the pain as though we were shot ourselves.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 New Yorkers owe our police genuine protection 2 from such threats. We need the best 3 protective equipment. We need programs and 4 laws that take guns off our streets. We need 5 funding for innovative crime-prevention 6 programs and more police. And if something 7 happens to us in the line of duty, our 8 families need the very best in support, 9 including grief counseling, financial 10 assistance, and scholarship programs for our 11 children. 12 "Yet" -- and it refers to this new 13 death penalty bill that we're debating right 14 now -- "[it] diverts attention from those very 15 real needs and provides grieving families with 16 nothing of substance. We urge our lawmakers 17 not to use the blood of our brothers to jam 18 through irresponsible and ill-conceived 19 policies that have nothing to do with the law 20 enforcement community's needs. The death 21 penalty is a broken and wasteful system that 22 risks executing the innocent, unfairly targets 23 people of color, and drains precious resources 24 from meaningful programs that support law 25 enforcement and victims' families."

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 And it's signed by a whole series 2 of police organizations. 3 Let's not pretend that the death 4 penalty does things it doesn't do. Let's take 5 the actions that really protect police 6 officers. Let's not pretend that we've done 7 everything we can do to gather the evidence. 8 The Assembly has held public 9 hearings. And what was the result in the 10 Assembly? There's actually less support as a 11 result of those hearings in the Assembly for 12 the death penalty than there was before it. 13 The Assembly Codes Committee voted today 13-5, 14 including Republican votes, against reporting 15 out the death penalty bill. 16 So I would respectfully submit that 17 because of our lack of inquiry, our lack of 18 the willingness to hold hearings and examine 19 the reports, examine what happened in 20 Massachusetts and Illinois, we are rendering 21 ourselves less and less capable of addressing 22 this issue while the Assembly has been 23 gathering information. 24 And you may agree or disagree with 25 their positions, but you can't argue with the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 point that they have held hearings on the 2 issue. We've been promised hearings on the 3 issue, but it has yet to be delivered on. 4 I'm going to vote no on this bill. 5 I think that Senator Diaz's point is very 6 important. There's no one I don't think in 7 this chamber on either side of the aisle 8 who -- I'll be glad to yield as soon as I'm 9 done, which will be very shortly. 10 There's no one in this chamber on 11 either side of the aisle who does not want to 12 do what we can do to protect police officers. 13 These are our heroes. I actually agree with 14 some of the points made by my colleagues that 15 an attack on police officer is not just like 16 another crime, because it is an attack on 17 society. 18 Which, incidentally, is the same 19 argument that is made in support of 20 hate-crimes bills, because it's an attack on a 21 particular ethnic or religious group or based 22 on sexual orientation. 23 But I do believe that. But we all 24 support those efforts. Let's work on issues 25 that are truly important to police officers,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 like getting guns off the street. 2 I'm going to vote no on this. 3 We're now going to move on to the debate, I 4 guess, for the other bill, but a lot of the 5 points I've made I hope will resonate with you 6 when that debate comes up as well. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be 8 glad to yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 10 Golden, why do you rise? 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: If the Senator 12 would yield for a question. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: He 14 will. 15 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator 16 Schneiderman, in your description and your 17 questioning of me of the four different 18 approaches that you would like to see changed 19 in the legislation that would allow for what 20 you believe to be a better bill, if those four 21 changes were made to your satisfaction, would 22 you vote in favor of the death penalty? 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 24 you, Mr. President, fair question. 25 There actually were -- and I would

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 refer the sponsor to the January 2005 report 2 of the Committee on Capital Punishment of the 3 Association of the Bar of the City of 4 New York, which enumerated that -- I gave 5 several examples. In fact, there are more 6 recommendations there. 7 If a death penalty bill was crafted 8 with all of those recommendations, that would 9 be a much harder decision for me. I have 10 little hope that these changes will be made -- 11 maybe when we get a new governor. I don't 12 know. In all honesty, I don't know. 13 I would have to say that I -- I -- 14 again, this really comes to a philosophical 15 and moral issue. I'm not someone who doesn't 16 believe that, you know, the state never has 17 the right to take life. We have the right to 18 send our children to die in wars. So I would 19 be conflicted. 20 My concern is this. No one has 21 ever gotten it right so far. There has never 22 been, in the history of the United States, a 23 state that has not had a death penalty that 24 discriminates against poor people, against 25 people of color, against people of lower

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 intelligence and mental disability. And I 2 would have to be very, very confident that 3 we'd addressed all those problems before I 4 vote yes. 5 But that's a fair question, and I 6 don't know the answer, Mr. President. Thank 7 you. 8 SENATOR GOLDEN: I have one 9 further question, if the Senator would yield. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 11 Schneiderman, will you yield for another 12 question? 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes. 14 SENATOR GOLDEN: We constantly do 15 hearings, and I believe in having hearings on 16 bills that are appropriate. 17 Now, I'm going to point out 18 Nixzmary Brown. We've had hearings, the 19 Assembly has had hearings, and yet we don't 20 have a bill on Nixzmary Brown from the 21 Assembly. 22 So if we're going to have hearings, 23 are the hearings for TV or are the hearings to 24 establish real legislation? It doesn't seem 25 to happen. And that is my question of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 concern. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I think 3 that, again, the Senator raises a legitimate 4 concern. 5 I think that our intent certainly 6 in this area -- and I think whatever you can 7 say, you agree or disagree with this. There 8 are studies, there are people who have 9 information of tremendous substance. 10 I think it should be the concern of 11 everyone in this house, for example, that as 12 reported this week in the Amsterdam News, the 13 May 2006 issue of Psychological Science, the 14 journal of the Association for Psychological 15 Science, reported that -- and I'm quoting now 16 from the author of the study, a Stanford 17 psychologist -- if you look more black, it 18 more than doubles your changes of receiving 19 the death penalty when the victim is white. 20 Now, this is even saying that more 21 light-skinned African-Americans are less 22 likely to receive the death penalty. 23 These are matters of substance. We 24 should look at all of these things. We should 25 look at all of these things.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 So in this case, sure, are there 2 sometimes hearings held that people do more 3 for television than anything else? Yeah. But 4 that's not our intention here. And I think 5 that our intention is to try and advance the 6 process. 7 We certainly do want to follow up, 8 and I understood that there were statements 9 made, certainly last time we debated the death 10 penalty, that we would hold hearings. I would 11 welcome the opportunity for us to do so. 12 And I don't -- I think some of 13 these issues are going to come up in the 14 context of Senator Skelos' bill, so I don't 15 want to unduly impede things. But I 16 appreciate the sponsor's sincerity in his 17 effort to advance this particular piece of 18 legislation. I hope you're not getting false 19 hope up about whether or not this will move in 20 the other house, because I think, if anything, 21 let's not give anyone false hope that this is 22 going to move forward in the Assembly. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 SENATOR GOLDEN: I applaud the 25 Senator for his honesty.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I would hope that we would be able 2 to come together, because we have come 3 together on other legislation. 4 And I understand that he addressed 5 the concern, Senator Schneiderman, on taking 6 the guns off of the streets and getting them 7 out of the hands of people who shouldn't have 8 them. And we have a bill coming up, a C 9 felony on possession of an illegal gun. And 10 hopefully I can see Senator Schneiderman on 11 that bill, and many of my other colleagues on 12 both sides of the house, so that we can take 13 the illegal guns out of the hands of 14 perpetrators and put them behind bars where 15 they belong. 16 Thank you, Senator. Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 19 Nozzolio. 20 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. On the bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: On the 23 bill. 24 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President 25 and my colleagues, I humbly rise to add

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 support to this bill and to thank our 2 sponsors, particularly Senator Golden, who has 3 brought great strength and passion to the 4 promotion of this measure. 5 I'd like to bring a different 6 perspective, one focused on law enforcement 7 but looking at it from the perspective of 8 those 30,000 brave men and women who work in 9 our correctional facilities. 10 Before I do that, though, I'd like 11 to add perspective on what this house has done 12 in supporting measures throughout the last 13 decade that have established a zero tolerance 14 for violence in our state. By all accounts, 15 the measures we have enacted which have put 16 the most violent of criminals behind bars for 17 longer periods of time have resulted in 18 remarkable changes in the crime statistics of 19 this state. 20 We've seen rapid declines in the 21 incidence of rape, of robbery, of otherwise 22 strong violence against each other, and a big 23 reason for that is the statutes that we 24 created keep violent individuals behind bars 25 for longer periods of time. Our population of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 prison inmates in this state has been reduced 2 over the past number of years, but those who 3 are behind bars are behind bars because they 4 have committed very violent acts. And we as a 5 law-making body have stated that they should 6 remain behind bars for a longer period of 7 time. 8 A thousand years from now, our 9 society will be judged by its commitment to 10 justice, how we as a people have established 11 policies and practices which create justice 12 for all and safety for our citizens. This is 13 one area of the law where we are inadequate in 14 our state. We have yet to establish justice. 15 We have yet to -- particularly for those on 16 the frontlines of the criminal justice system, 17 our law enforcement officers, we have not 18 established the proper laws to create safety. 19 To the comments that immediately 20 preceded me by Senator Schneiderman, I say his 21 concern of putting an innocent behind bars and 22 sentencing that innocent to the death penalty, 23 his commitment, I think as far as rhetoric is 24 concerned, is a step in the right direction. 25 But I would rather see this house

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 and the Assembly establish a statewide DNA 2 database where each individual who's arrested 3 for a crime, whether that be an arrest for a 4 misdemeanor or a felony, participates in the 5 DNA database. 6 One of the things that you cannot 7 hide behind is the fact that our laws have yet 8 to keep pace with technology. And if we were 9 extracting a fingerprint from an individual 10 for an arrest, why should we not extract DNA 11 so that we would know, in effect, a greater 12 base of information as to who perpetrated a 13 crime. 14 But I want to get back to our 15 prisons and back to those places where we have 16 placed violent members of society behind the 17 prison walls for a longer period of time. 18 What do you say, who are going to 19 vote against this bill, that we are turning 20 our backs on correction officers of this state 21 and the correctional personnel of this state 22 because an individual sentenced to life 23 without parole is an individual who's 24 sentenced to prison without anything to lose. 25 There is absolutely no deterrent whatsoever to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 an individual who has already committed 2 murder, who may have already committed the 3 most heinous crime of an attack in a violent 4 murder of a police officer -- what is to deter 5 that individual from being sentenced to prison 6 and not committing murder again? 7 How can you in the Democrat -- the 8 Minority conference of this house say to the 9 brave men and women, our correction officers, 10 our correctional personnel, who already walk 11 the toughest beat in America, that those who 12 are sentenced to life without parole are 13 sentenced with nothing left to lose? They've 14 already committed murder once. You can't 15 sentence someone to two lives without parole, 16 or three or four. 17 You need to guarantee to those 18 correction officers how you can guarantee 19 their safety, and how can you guarantee the 20 safety to the teachers, the custodians, 21 everyone else who works in our jails across 22 New York State. 23 What is your answer to that? That 24 we have established life without parole, we 25 have done our jobs? Frankly, you're

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 sentencing many of our COs to death by turning 2 your backs on them and supporting only a 3 half-baked punishment, a half-baked justice 4 for the citizens of our state. 5 I don't wish to get preachy, but I 6 do believe that a thousand years from now we 7 are going be judged by our commitment to 8 justice and the safety and security of our 9 citizens. Standing, adorning, behind the 10 president of this Senate's chair is, in 11 beautiful stained glass, the great seal of the 12 great State of New York. And on that seal 13 there are two ladies. One is Lady Liberty, a 14 concept that all of us take with great, great 15 pride. And the Statue of Liberty adorning our 16 waters, the pride that we all have in knowing 17 we are the state of liberty. 18 Lady Justice also adorns our state 19 seal. She also looks over this chamber. How 20 are we establishing justice in this state by 21 denying justice to those who perpetrate the 22 most heinous of crimes, as Senator Meier and 23 Senator Winner have both described as the most 24 evil of evils, those who would kill a police 25 officer in the cause of duty, trying to keep

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 our peace? 2 We are not establishing justice in 3 New York unless we establish the penalty for 4 those who commit the ultimate crime. And a 5 brush-off on the shoulder and saying life 6 without parole is what you get says to our 7 correction officers that we don't care about 8 justice. 9 Well, I know I care about justice. 10 I know Senator Golden, who sponsors this 11 legislation, cares about justice. And it 12 should be justice for all. That's why I 13 support this bill, Mr. President, and urge my 14 colleagues to do the same. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 16 Alesi. 17 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you. 18 Mr. President, would Senator Diaz 19 yield for one very brief question, please? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 21 Diaz, will you yield? 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, 23 Mr. President. 24 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 25 Mr. President. Senator, thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Senator, I would simply ask you 2 this. Did you support the bias-crime 3 legislation that this house and the Assembly 4 passed and was signed into law by the 5 Governor? 6 SENATOR DIAZ: Bias crime? 7 SENATOR ALESI: Do you support 8 the bias-crime legislation that exists in 9 New York State? 10 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, I do. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Excuse me, 12 Mr. President. Point of order. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 14 Schneiderman. 15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Point of 16 order. 17 I don't want to disrupt the debate 18 on these important issues, but Senator Diaz 19 did not have the floor, so he cannot be asked 20 to yield for a question. 21 I suppose, Senator Alesi, if we're 22 just going to -- if you have a question and 23 the Senator wants to yield, I'm not going to 24 try and shut it down. But let's try and 25 follow the rules. This is going to be a --

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR ALESI: Mr. President, I 2 would concur with that. And it's not 3 necessary for me to pursue it any further. 4 Let me make my point, though -- 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Point 6 of order. 7 I think you can ask someone to 8 yield, I believe, at any time who's been 9 involved in a debate after when it's your time 10 to speak. But since Senator Alesi has so 11 graciously agreed to speak on the bill, we'll 12 continue. 13 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you. 14 And I think the point should be 15 made very clearly, that for anyone in this 16 Legislature, and that included those people 17 who voted for the bias-crime legislation, and 18 the Governor himself, who signed that, would 19 recognize that we do have special treatment 20 for people who are considered to be in a 21 special class. That's the law. And we do 22 have more severe penalties for crimes that are 23 perpetrated against those people who are in a 24 special class. 25 And what Senator Golden's

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 legislation does here, without respect to the 2 main body of the debate about the death 3 penalty, is simply to say that police 4 officers, according to this legislation, 5 should be -- and I agree completely -- 6 considered to be in a special class when it 7 comes to punishment for crimes against police 8 officers. 9 Philosophically, no different than 10 the bias-crime legislation that we have in 11 this state now as law, recognizing that it is 12 something that we do in New York State. We 13 create more severe penalties for the same 14 crimes against a certain class of people. 15 It's the law. 16 And so when we're looking at 17 Senator Golden's legislation, without regard 18 to anything else in the debate about the 19 penalties, the death penalty, we've already 20 established a precedent. 21 And so when Senator Diaz earlier 22 said why are police any more special than 23 anyone else, the answer, to me, is very 24 simple. They are not, on a day-to-day basis, 25 any more special than any of us are any more

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 special because of what we are or who we are. 2 We're all created equal. That's recognized. 3 But when they're doing something on 4 behalf of society, when they're going out and 5 doing their job and putting on their uniform 6 and they're clearly identified as someone who 7 is part of the bedrock of our social 8 structure, they're protecting us from 9 lawlessness, then they are special. 10 They're not special as human 11 beings, they're special in a special category 12 because of what they do to protect us. And 13 the law is clear on this, the proposed law is 14 clear on this. It says when they're doing 15 their job. 16 And so I would have to say that 17 it's a foregone conclusion that I would be 18 supporting this bill. But in response to 19 Senator Diaz's question about are police more 20 special than others and why are we making a 21 separate bill for them, my answer is simple. 22 Yes, when they're wearing their badge and 23 their uniform, they are a lot more special, 24 because they're protecting each and every one 25 of us.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 And the interesting thing about 2 that effort that they do, day in and day out 3 when they're putting their lives on the line, 4 is they're making us more special than they 5 are. They're making us more special than they 6 are themselves. They're making a statement: 7 I'm willing, when I go to work, to die for 8 you. Whatever other job you're doing in this 9 society, I as a police officer, when I'm 10 acting in that capacity, am making you more 11 special than I am. I'm willing to die for 12 you. 13 So when the Senator says are police 14 any more special than anybody else, I would 15 say yes, when they're protecting us. And the 16 police would say no, I am no more special than 17 you; in fact, you are far more special than I 18 am, because I will lay down my life to protect 19 you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Is 21 there any other Senator wishing to be heard? 22 Senator Connor. 23 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 You know, I wasn't even going to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 speak on this bill because, as with so many 2 people on this issue, my view of the death 3 penalty relates to the total universe and to 4 Senator Volker's bill. And I don't want to 5 get into the debate as it's been constructed 6 so far. 7 But just let me say the only 8 rationale I can think of for this bill before 9 us now is to try and present, to a public 10 whose attitudes I suspect have been changing 11 over the past decade or two, perhaps the 12 most -- I don't want to use the word 13 "sympathy," but sympathetic case in favor of 14 the death penalty. 15 Because certainly all of us share 16 the enormous abhorrence when a law enforcement 17 officer, someone who is protecting all of us, 18 is cut down in the line of duty. And we are 19 all outraged by that. And yes, it does offend 20 all of us in a very special way. And it does 21 cry out for the maximum public concern. 22 But in reality, Mr. President -- 23 and I will address it in the next debate in 24 some detail -- I don't think there's a member 25 here whose position as to whether they are in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 favor of the death penalty or opposed relates 2 to how abhorrent the crime is, how esteemed, 3 and rightfully so, by the public because of 4 their role as the guardians of our -- yes, our 5 liberty and our freedom from violence -- it 6 doesn't relate to those issues, it relates to 7 more fundamental issues. 8 So in some respects, I just wanted 9 to explain my vote on this, but it's because 10 of everything I'm going to say about Senator 11 Volker's bill, and it doesn't really relate to 12 the fact that this bill specifies law 13 enforcement officers. 14 So thank you, Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 16 Golden, to close. 17 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 I want to thank the colleagues on 20 both sides of the aisle for this debate. I do 21 believe, though, we do need a death penalty 22 here in the state of New York. And I will not 23 give up until we do get a death penalty here 24 in the state of New York. And I'm hoping that 25 some of my colleagues on the other side will

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 peel off and start to vote for this death 2 penalty. 3 I listened to Senator Diaz's dance 4 between child and senior and police officer 5 when he had no intention of voting for either 6 of those bills anyway. And I listened to 7 Senator Parker's explanation of social 8 services and education, with no intention of 9 voting for the bill, and then listened to it 10 that there's no correlation. 11 Well, I think there is a 12 correlation. I think we look at the state of 13 New York for that correlation. And we look at 14 the early 1990s, where we've seen 2245 people 15 killed in one year in this state. And we see 16 800,000 crimes plus being committed here in 17 the state of New York. And then I see a death 18 penalty come into effect, and I see us down on 19 homicides, to this year to 550, and down on 20 crimes from 800,000 to less than 300,000. 21 And I see the courts throw out the 22 death penalty here in the state of New York, 23 and I start to see portions of the state where 24 crime is going up, and in certain portions of 25 this state where murder is going up. We've

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 been blessed in that we've been able to hold 2 homicides down to 550 in the city of New York 3 and a little bit more statewide. But I will 4 tell you that it will be short-lived if we do 5 not give those police officers the tools they 6 need to be able to do the job they have to do. 7 You know, we did come together here 8 in this conference, we came together here on 9 both sides and in the Assembly. We did in 10 December. And we passed the Crimes Against 11 Police Act and we passed illegal gun 12 trafficking. So there is a record for us of 13 coming together and working for the betterment 14 of the people of this city and this great 15 state. We can continue to do that, or we can 16 continue to argue. 17 But I will tell you, as I said in 18 my first statement, in the 40 large cities 19 around the nation, 20 of them have seen 20 homicides and murder go up. So I'm going to 21 tell you right now, it's only a matter of 22 time. And when we come here year after year, 23 next year I don't know what you're going to 24 say if crime goes up in the city or state of 25 New York. And I don't know what you're going

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 to say if we see 10 or 12 police officers 2 killed here in the city or state of New York. 3 But I'm hoping and praying that you 4 will see the value of this bill and that we 5 will do what's right for the families across 6 this city and state. 7 I would ask you all -- and I'm sure 8 this is not part of parliamentary procedure, 9 but I will ask each and every one of you to 10 join with me, whether you're going to vote for 11 this bill or against this bill, to stand and 12 to applaud the service of Joseph Corr, his 13 mother and father in the audience that have 14 listened to this debate. And what I would ask 15 you to do is to applaud his service to this 16 state and to his nation. 17 (Applause.) 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, Mr. 19 and Mrs. Corr. And God bless your son, 20 Joseph, and his family. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Then 23 the debate is closed. 24 The Secretary will ring the bell. 25 The Secretary will read.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 7 Senator Volker, to explain his vote. 8 SENATOR VOLKER: May I explain my 9 vote. 10 For those that don't understand 11 what's going on here, by the way, for -- we 12 just -- Senator Padavan and I did some reforms 13 here because of some criticism in the 14 Legislature. So what just happened here was 15 we have to stop and wait for people to come in 16 and all sorts of stuff that delays the 17 process. But it's the way the system is these 18 days. 19 Let me just say on this bill, first 20 of all -- and I listened, Senator Diaz, to 21 your debate, and I listened -- let me tell you 22 that I used to have the numbers on how more 23 likely it was for a police officer to be 24 killed than the average citizen. Something 25 like 4,000 times as likely.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Police officers, correction 2 officers also, and many peace officers are 3 people that represent society. They are out 4 there in the streets protecting us. The 5 reason for this separate bill has to do with 6 the fact that a lot of people felt that we 7 should stress the fact that these people were 8 particularly vulnerable to assaults. 9 And I'm going to speak on the next 10 bill, and I would like to try to explain some 11 of the things that were said during this bill. 12 But let me just say to you, if I were talking 13 about deterrence, and I am, to dismiss 14 deterrence is foolish, in my opinion. We look 15 at deterrence in every other statute. But we 16 think it doesn't happen because it's killing? 17 Come on. 18 But the issue is I don't know a 19 police officer -- and I know a lot of them. I 20 was one myself. Senator Golden was. I don't 21 know one that doesn't believe that in some 22 cases the death penalty could deter 23 particularly the killing of a police officer. 24 In fact, I know criminals who've 25 told me it did deter them. They've told me

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 right out that one of the reasons they didn't 2 kill somebody is because of the death penalty. 3 Anyways, let me just say this. 4 This bill -- what would happen is if this bill 5 came in now, with the Court of Appeals 6 decision the way it is, the rest of the death 7 penalty would still remain in abeyance, but 8 police officers, correction officers, and 9 peace officers would be included and this 10 would remedy the so-called deficiency which 11 the Court of Appeals put in place. 12 So let's understand that. It does 13 have a major impact. Nothing would change in 14 the death penalty but that, but it would 15 happen. So I vote aye. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 17 Diaz, to explain his vote. 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 You know, there are jobs that bring 21 certain privileges and certain dangers. 22 Elected officials, there is privilege and 23 there is danger. You know that by becoming an 24 elected official you're going to have people 25 that are against you and people that are in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 favor. 2 Police officers. My daughter 3 became a police officer. I didn't want her to 4 become a police officer; I know the danger. 5 She wanted to become a police officer. A 6 police officer is being given a gun, a 7 bulletproof vest, and they know and she knows 8 the dangers out there. 9 My granddaughter just became 18 10 years old. She just joined the Army, 11 volunteered. She wants to defend and protect 12 the nation. This is my granddaughter, just 13 18 years old. She wants to go to protect and 14 serve. I know the dangers. So the dangers 15 are there. 16 The bodeguero, when he opens the 17 door of the bodega at 5 o'clock in the 18 morning, to be there till 12 o'clock at night, 19 they know the danger. A police officer has a 20 gun and the authority to stop you and to 21 sometimes slap you. The bodegueros don't have 22 those privileges. And the senior citizens 23 don't have that privilege. 24 I support police officers. And I 25 support -- as a pastor, I teach my youth in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the church that they should respect and obey 2 the law at all times. Even the Bible says 3 that you don't want to fear -- that if you 4 obey the law and respect the law, you have 5 nothing to be afraid of. That's what the 6 Bible says. 7 But also, I don't believe in 8 abortion. I don't believe in killing babies, 9 unborn babies. I don't believe in killing 10 anybody, because I deeply respect life in all 11 shapes and forms. 12 Because I do not believe in killing 13 anyone, and because I believe that life is 14 sacred and beautiful, for this reason and for 15 many others, I cannot support and I will not 16 support this bill or any other bill that takes 17 away life. 18 It has nothing to do with the 19 respect of police officers, has nothing to do 20 with the love and attention that they deserve. 21 It has nothing to do -- my daughter could die 22 tomorrow, but I don't believe in the death 23 penalty. I don't believe in killing babies. 24 I don't believe in abortion. I don't believe 25 in those things. Life is beautiful and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 sacred, and that's why I'm opposing this bill. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 3 Seward, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR SEWARD: Briefly, 5 Mr. President. 6 I rise in support of this 7 legislation and also the next bill, Senator 8 Volker's bill, which will correct our death 9 penalty law in the state of New York and 10 reinstate the death penalty for all 11 New Yorkers, and this bill before us for those 12 that kill police officers in our state. 13 I've listened to the debate here 14 today. There have been pros and cons. My 15 decision to support this bill boils down to 16 three simple numbers. In the early 1990s, 17 before we had a death penalty law in New York 18 State, we had 2245 murders in New York State 19 every year. The number had grown to that 20 number. 21 After we passed our death penalty 22 law in the mid-'90s, that number is now down 23 to about 550 murders in New York State every 24 year. Now, that's 550 too many, obviously. 25 But the dramatic decrease in the murder rate

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 here in the state of New York tells me that 2 the death penalty is not only a deterrent, 3 it's also simple justice. 4 And the other number that sticks 5 out in my mind is last year alone we had four 6 honorable police officers murdered in the -- 7 as they carried out their duties on behalf of 8 all of us in the state of New York. And this 9 year, 2006, we're tragically on course to 10 increase that number. 11 And we have in the gallery today, 12 of course, Mr. and Mrs. Corr and members of 13 the New Hartford Police Department, who 14 obviously have suffered a great loss. It's 15 more than a statistic; these are real, 16 honorable people who served us and are now no 17 longer with us. 18 So those numbers alone, the fact 19 we've seen a huge decrease in the murder rate 20 in New York State and, tragically, an increase 21 in the number of police officers being killed 22 in this state, leads me to support this bill 23 and also Senator Volker's bill which will 24 follow. I vote aye. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Parker, to explain his vote. 2 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, 3 to explain my vote. 4 Again, I really admire Senator 5 Golden's intention in putting forth this bill. 6 I think it's an important issue. We certainly 7 need to be providing safety, clearly, in Kings 8 County, in New York City and in the state of 9 New York. But this bill is simply not the way 10 I think we ought to do it. 11 I think things like closing the 12 loophole around gun dealers is one of the 13 steps we ought to be taking. We certainly 14 ought to be expanding and bringing forth a 15 bill to the floor to expand ballistic IDs. 16 But then, if we're going to be 17 looking at what the best thing is to protect 18 law enforcement, particularly in New York City 19 it's to increase the number of first 20 responders we have. We still are, after 9/11, 21 several thousand police officers less than 22 where we were the morning of 9/11. And so 23 certainly putting forward more police officers 24 will certainly, I think, do more to help than 25 the death penalty.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I note that Senator Golden wants to 2 credit the death penalty with reducing crime 3 in the '90s. I think that his Republican 4 colleague Mayor Giuliani, America's Mayor, 5 might disagree with that. I think David 6 Dinkins, with his "Cops and Kids" plan, might 7 disagree with that. I think Ray Kelly, with 8 community policing and COMPSTAT, might 9 disagree with the fact that the death penalty 10 was the number-one reason why crime went down 11 in the city of New York. I think there are a 12 lot of other things we might look at. 13 And I think that as you start 14 calculating the death penalty amongst all 15 those other things that were done around law 16 enforcement during that time, you might find 17 that this was the least effective thing that 18 we could do. 19 So I'm going to vote no and hope 20 that we bring some other bills to the floor 21 that really address this issue. 22 Thank you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 24 Parker will be recorded in the negative. 25 Announce the results.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 the negative on Calendar Number 460 are 3 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Coppola, 4 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 5 Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Montgomery, 6 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 7 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano, 8 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stavisky and Valesky. 9 Absent from voting: Senator C. 10 Kruger. 11 Ayes, 37. Nays, 23. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 13 bill is passed. 14 (Scattered applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 16 Little. 17 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. Could we return to Calendar 19 455, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 455, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 2727, an 24 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 25 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Explanation. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 3 Volker, an explanation has been requested. 4 SENATOR VOLKER: Yeah, 5 Mr. President, you know, this is always -- the 6 people that know my history, I guess, realize 7 that I have a very, very strong feeling on the 8 death penalty. 9 It's not that I feel that we should 10 execute tons of people or anything. But I 11 can't help but remember, and I guess because 12 of the history of my family -- and by the way, 13 I was one who recommended that we do Senator 14 Golden's bill first, because of the family 15 being here, and I thought it would be better 16 that they didn't have to sit through the 17 entire proceeding or whatever. I mean, you 18 know, not that it wouldn't be educating. 19 But what's fascinating about this 20 issue is -- and I realize we all have our own 21 feeling about it. See, it wouldn't matter to 22 me -- and some fellow talked to me and said, 23 "You know, the support for the death penalty 24 is down." I said: "Oh, that's nice. Okay." 25 And he said, "Does have that any impact on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 your feeling?" I said, "Look. I support the 2 death penalty because I believe it is a 3 deterrent." I know it's a deterrent. It's 4 not a belief. It's not even an issue. 5 I'll never forget my father coming 6 home in 1965 after he had fought the battle 7 against the majority of the Bartlett 8 Commission, which Nelson Rockefeller set up to 9 abolish the death penalty. Which is what he 10 did. And my father opposed it. 11 What he said was, number one, the 12 murder rate will soar now. Which of course he 13 was totally right. Number two, he made an 14 interesting observation and he said now 15 abortion will come out, because they're 16 indelibly linked. Because when you abolish 17 the death penalty, if people are willing to 18 allow innocent people, in effect, to die from 19 the hands of killers, the guilty, why would 20 they not be willing to allow the innocent to 21 die? 22 What a terrible condemnation, in a 23 way. I listened to Reverend Diaz, and it was 24 fascinating. 25 In 1965, the murder rate was 837.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Now, in 1966 -- and this was after the death 2 penalty was abolished -- it was 876. You know 3 what it was last year? 874. So one year 4 after the death penalty was abolished, two 5 more people were murdered than last year. Of 6 course, then in 1967, 1,009; 1968, 1231; 1969, 7 1400. It went all the way to 2600. 8 I think what we have to understand 9 is not every murder is deterrable. Of course 10 it's not. Nobody ever said that. 11 Particularly, I think, the murders of police 12 officers, and there's lots of reasons for it, 13 are potentially deterrable. 14 But to say that there's no evidence 15 of deterrence -- the reason there's no 16 evidence of deterrence for those that oppose 17 the death penalty is because they beat every 18 study they could find to show it wasn't. 19 It's like Massachusetts. My good 20 friend Eric talked about Massachusetts and 21 these nine principles. One thing he didn't 22 mention -- I don't know how many people have 23 read the Massachusetts death penalty statute. 24 I can tell you it doesn't have anywhere near 25 as many protections in it as we do in ours.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I have talked to death penalty 2 advocates from around the country, and they 3 privately admit to me that if they had to have 4 a death penalty legislation, they would like 5 ours. There's no bill in the country -- for 6 instance, we provide more training and more 7 money for defense than any legislation in any 8 state in the country. And I won't read you 9 all the different provisions in it. It's kind 10 of impressive, I think, and I'm proud of it. 11 I must tell you a story about what 12 we're fixing here so that everybody 13 understands. This bill basically does the 14 same fix, so to speak -- it takes out the 15 provision that the Court of Appeals says was 16 wrong and replaces it with what they say is 17 right. 18 Now, personally, I don't buy the 19 Court of Appeals language at all. This was a 20 bunch of people, four people, that didn't have 21 the courage to allow the death penalty. These 22 were the same people that said the Legislature 23 shouldn't have as much as power as the 24 Governor. We -- the Court of Appeals, 25 probably the most pro-criminal Court of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Appeals in the country, if you look at what 2 they've done -- because this Legislature and 3 this house -- you can be proud of the fact 4 that this house, Democrat and Republican -- 5 and by the way, one of your members said "the 6 Democrats." A lot of you have voted for the 7 death penalty. A lot of you have voted for 8 tough criminal statutes. 9 This house, in my humble opinion, 10 is the anchor of criminal justice in this 11 state. When George took over -- I'm talking 12 about the Governor -- we said, Give us the 13 tools and we'll deal with it. 14 No state in the union has ever seen 15 a decline in crime as this state has. Never 16 in homicide the way it has. It's now, 17 however, starting to angle up. We all know 18 that. We've been seeing it, and we knew it 19 was coming. 20 Yeah, we had the death penalty, and 21 we had tough criminal statutes. Because when 22 the death penalty passes, tough criminal 23 statutes virtually automatically go with it. 24 There was a gentleman sitting right 25 here who was a good friend of mine -- I won't

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 say who he was. But back in the '70s, when we 2 were going to have the big argument with my 3 good friend -- and he was my good friend -- 4 Mario Cuomo, he had a bill in that would 5 reduce the life term to 8 years. Well, in 6 other words, you could get out after 8 years. 7 It was 18, it would be 8 years. 8 They got so petrified over the 9 death penalty, he put in another bill that 10 made life without parole. And I pointed out 11 to him, I said, you know, "It's a little 12 contradictory, don't you think?" But they 13 were so frightened of the death penalty. 14 If people are so frightened of the 15 death penalty in -- out there, the liberal 16 people, the people that spend millions and 17 millions of dollars against the death penalty, 18 these groups that are so afraid -- by the way, 19 I got calls today from people around the 20 country. Whenever we do this bill, whenever 21 we deal with the death penalty, don't kid 22 yourselves, this is a national issue. Our 23 criminal justice system may be one of the best 24 in the country. I think it's the best. 25 We've participated in debates, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 this debate, this is the first of a number. 2 Let me tell you, we're going to get another 3 Court of Appeals judge, if things work out the 4 way they should, we will do the fix, and the 5 Assembly eventually will do it. Maybe not 6 now, although if they don't do a couple of 7 other things, they're going to have a big 8 problem. 9 And by the way, Eric asked about 10 hearings. And I confess, I said on this floor 11 I was going to do hearings. You know why I 12 didn't do it? Because we got involved in so 13 many other issues here -- sexual predator 14 legislation, all these things -- that have 15 turned out to be in some ways to be more 16 important. 17 The reason we ended up in December 18 on the issue of police killings had to do with 19 the death of two New York City police 20 officers. And it was great that we were able 21 to do that, except for one thing. When two 22 cops in upstate New York got killed, nobody 23 paid too much attention. In fact, one 24 newspaper, one group, Gannett News, did pay 25 attention. I give them credit.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 It aggravates me to think, though, 2 that cops in my area, in upstate New York, 3 weren't as important as other police officers. 4 And I think, you know -- I mean, I know that. 5 We realize that the media doesn't like this. 6 Oh, it doesn't sound good. 7 But ladies and gentlemen of the 8 Senate, justice -- let's remember what justice 9 is. Justice says that people get their due. 10 It doesn't necessarily mean that we go after 11 people, but it means that there ought to be a 12 penalty available for those people that commit 13 heinous crimes that fit the crimes. 14 You know, I'm going to finish by 15 telling you something that I haven't said to 16 too many people, and you can believe this or 17 not. I'm a practicing Roman Catholic. I 18 firmly believe that the Catholic Church of 19 this country really made a big mistake and in 20 fact probably unwittingly promoted abortion. 21 When I was over in Europe with my 22 daughter in Krakow, Poland, I went to 23 Auschwitz and to Bergdorf [sic] and saw the -- 24 what was there, the murders and the brutality, 25 the hair of people, the shoes. It was hard

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 for me to even think about what happened 2 there. I mean, man's inhumanity to man, that 3 this happened in our century. 4 But then it dawned on me why the 5 Pope opposed the death penalty in Europe. He 6 was absolutely right. I wouldn't want a death 7 penalty in Europe either. Just as I wouldn't 8 have wanted a death penalty in the South in 9 the '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, and maybe for a 10 while in Illinois. Because they went over the 11 edge. 12 And because remember, in Europe, 13 people -- juries don't execute people, the 14 government does. In this country, the freest 15 country in the world, juries make the 16 decisions. 17 Our Court of Appeals doesn't like 18 our juries. They said, Well, you know, they 19 could be influenced by the way that this death 20 penalty is drawn up. 21 In all honesty, the fix we're doing 22 is probably as much my fault as anybody's. I 23 thought it was -- tended to be more, the way 24 it was, more pro-inmate. Give them the 25 chance. Because I always took the attitude,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 you give them the opportunity. The better 2 make sure that person is guilty. You want to 3 make sure that that jury decides that person 4 should get the death penalty before you -- 5 before there's any chance. 6 Not one person in the history of 7 this state has ever been found not guilty with 8 any kind of definition after they were 9 executed. In fact, let me tell you something. 10 The attitude that there's bias and race -- 11 we've studied the whole thing -- absolutely 12 false in this state. I don't care about the 13 rest of the country, you can say what you 14 want. 15 Although I will tell you a couple 16 of things that are fascinating. And that is 17 that there was a study done of people who were 18 found exonerated at a national level. 19 Prosecutors from around the United States -- 20 California attorney general, state attorneys 21 general -- all these people went and they 22 looked at a hundred cases that were innocent, 23 people were found innocent. 24 What they found is that the 25 majority were reconvicted of the same charges.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 They also found that some of the people 2 exonerated were guilty, but the problem was 3 that the evidence was thrown out for one 4 reason or another. 5 I'm told that the DNA cases in 6 Illinois, at least half of them committed the 7 crimes. And the reason is, you got to 8 remember, DNA eliminates the evidence. It 9 doesn't necessarily mean that people are 10 totally innocent. They may have still 11 committed the crimes. 12 One guy who was let out was 13 immediately grabbed by the people in the next 14 state because the evidence showed that he 15 killed the person who he was found innocent of 16 just after he killed another person related to 17 him in another state. 18 So you have to be really be 19 careful. The media tells you part of the 20 story, not the whole story. 21 We in this state abhor the 22 possibility that a person could be executed 23 that's innocent. And we do everything we can 24 to make sure. That's not what the Court of 25 Appeals judges did. What they said is -- the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 same judges who made a decision that said our 2 Legislature is not capable of being equal to 3 the Governor. That's basically what they 4 said. That's why we're still here fighting 5 over the budget -- they said juries are not 6 capable of understanding, so we're going to 7 make a change. 8 Well, fine, this bill changes back 9 to what they claim they will do. Hopefully, 10 by the time the new charges are laid against 11 people and so forth, we'll have a different 12 Court of Appeals which will have the courage 13 to withstand the statute that we will send to 14 them and that the new governor, probably -- 15 because I want to warn everybody here, I 16 assume everybody here realizes that both 17 gubernatorial candidates are pro-death 18 penalty. In case you don't know it, they are. 19 So if you think that this issue is not going 20 to come back, it is. 21 And today we're going to pass this 22 bill that does the overall fix to the death 23 penalty. But don't let anybody kid you that 24 those law professors who are anti-death 25 penalty who testified at the Assembly

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 hearings -- which they wouldn't even let 2 everybody who was pro-death penalty testify. 3 They did the hearings to show you shouldn't be 4 for the death penalty. That's why they did 5 them. We all knew that. 6 And Marty Connor and I were 7 talking; if you're opposed, you're opposed. 8 If you're in favor, you're in favor. I mean, 9 you can make all the -- so that's the way it 10 is. 11 So anyways, let me just say, my 12 colleagues, whether there's less support for 13 the death penalty today than there was some 14 time ago -- why is that? Well, because the 15 murder rate is way down. And the media has 16 been pounding away, and the anti-death penalty 17 people have been making movies and they're on 18 television. But there is a steady 19 undercurrent of two-thirds of New York 20 people -- no one who voted for the death 21 penalty in this chamber who was there in '94 22 is going to have a problem if he votes for -- 23 or she votes for it again. 24 Because those people that now say 25 they might prefer life without parole, they're

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 not going to vote against you because you vote 2 for it. What they're saying is well, you 3 know, we might just do -- yeah, sure. The 4 truth is that's what people want you to 5 believe. 6 The people of this state have 7 spoken time after time after time. They want 8 justice. And if we're going to get justice, 9 we need a death penalty to make sure that the 10 most heinous of criminals have the threat over 11 their heads. 12 So all I can say is whether it's a 13 police officer, who I think needs defense more 14 than anybody -- whoever it is, we do need the 15 death penalty in place in this state. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 17 Balboni. 18 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President, 19 I have listened to the debate on the prior 20 statute, and I'm listening to this. And this 21 debate and the one that came before it is 22 frustrating. 23 And it's frustrating from two 24 perspectives. The first is that we are 25 debating the wrong thing. If you're speaking

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 specifically on the bill that is before us for 2 consideration, Senator Volker's bill and 3 Senator Golden's bill, then the debate on 4 whether or not the death penalty should be the 5 law in New York State is irrelevant. 6 In fact, if we were in a court of 7 law, I would bet you anything that a judge 8 would rule us out of order. Because the law 9 of the State of New York today is that there 10 is a death penalty. 11 In 2004, the Court of Appeals in 12 the case of People v. LaValle spoke to one 13 very small and specific section of a law that 14 had been debated and argued about for nearly a 15 decade. And I participated in those debates, 16 as did Winner and Robach and Nozzolio, in the 17 Assembly, and Bonacic and Flanagan. We were 18 all there. And we remember the chambers 19 humming with tension and emotion over the 20 issue. And when George Pataki becomes 21 Governor in 1995, this state decides to enact 22 a death penalty. 23 What is so frustrating about 24 today's debate is that because of a 25 technicality -- and if you read the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 commentaries of the Court of Appeals, you know 2 it is a technicality. They don't talk about 3 the requirement of proof as being 4 insufficient. They don't talk about the jury 5 deliberations as being insufficient under law. 6 They don't talk about the threshold crimes you 7 must commit in order to be subject to the 8 death penalty as being constitutionally 9 insufficient. None of that. Especially that 10 one-line little paragraph that when you said 11 to a jury if it didn't do this, then this 12 might happen. And that was the infirmity. 13 Now, why am I frustrated? 14 Everybody has the right -- it's the 15 Legislature; we can talk about anything, 16 whether it's relevant or not. But when you 17 hear Senator Diaz and Senator Parker and 18 Senator Schneiderman talking about the merits 19 of their feelings, we're kind of missing the 20 point. 21 And I would actually challenge the 22 opponents to this bill who want to vote no. 23 Hey, folks, it's the day of transparency. So 24 if you really want to express your objections 25 to this legislation, you must offer an

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 amendment to repeal the death penalty in the 2 State of New York. Short of that, you're not 3 affecting the debate positively. Because, my 4 colleagues, that's the debate. Because the 5 law still exists today. 6 What a court, an unelected court 7 has done is they've superseded our judgment. 8 They've said, No, no, we don't care about what 9 the people, duly elected, think. We're going 10 to usurp your ability to affect criminal 11 justice. We're going to ignore the fact -- 12 whether you believe the death penalty actually 13 is a deterrent or not, the one thing you 14 cannot argue in the face of the statistics is 15 that it actually increases crime. It does 16 not. That's the one thing you can't say. 17 Now, you say, Well, Balboni, why 18 are you bringing that up? That's so absurd. 19 Believe it or not, when I was in the Assembly, 20 '90, '91, '92, '93, that's what they all said, 21 that if we enact the death penalty, we're 22 going to increase the rate of crime. They 23 actually said that. But it didn't happen. 24 Mr. President, I'm voting for this 25 because it was the people's intent and the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 will of this Legislature in 1995 to enact the 2 death penalty, to provide some safety not only 3 for police officers and court officers and 4 people who run the jails but the private 5 citizen on the street. We should effectuate 6 that. 7 My colleagues, I challenge you. 8 Bring an amendment. Let's have the debate on 9 the death penalty in the proper forum. But 10 let's not take this technical amendment and 11 further the sham the way the Assembly has 12 done. 13 Folks, this is a very serious 14 issue. If it's time to revisit the efficacy 15 of this proposal, then let's do that. But not 16 in the context of some hypertechnicality that 17 the lords of the court have decided to visit 18 upon us. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 21 you, Senator Balboni. 22 Senator Duane. 23 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. On the bill. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: On the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 bill. 2 SENATOR DUANE: I want to state 3 for the record that I am a hundred percent 4 morally and ethically opposed to the death 5 penalty. I believe that it is wrong, and I 6 would vote against any bill that would bring 7 the death penalty to New York State. 8 But let's be honest about what's 9 happening here. And this is before my time 10 here, though I followed it as a person who 11 opposed the death penalty. The Governor, the 12 Senate had a chance to draft a good bill, if 13 you want to call it that. If there's any such 14 thing as a good death penalty bill. And 15 unfortunately, it wasn't good enough to 16 pass -- or I should say from my point of view, 17 fortunately, it wasn't good enough to pass the 18 Court of Appeals' scrutiny. So basically the 19 Senate blew it. 20 I mean, what the Court of Appeals 21 was saying was that the bill was flawed, that 22 it was badly drafted. And it was overturned. 23 And actually, that's probably a lesson to the 24 Senate that maybe the best way to draft 25 legislation, particularly legislation of this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 importance, is to do it after plenty of 2 hearings. 3 I also think it would be kind of 4 inappropriate to have the Court of Appeals 5 come and debate the bill with us. It would be 6 like having the Governor come and debate the 7 bill. There's a separation of powers. But 8 there is a reason that we have a Court of 9 Appeals, and that's so that they can see 10 whether or not our laws are fair and 11 well-written and can be properly used in our 12 courts of law. 13 So apparently and obviously what 14 happened was the bill didn't pass muster. And 15 you know what? There really is no going back. 16 We're not going to pass a death penalty in 17 this Legislature. It's not just going to 18 happen. So -- I mean, I understand why people 19 want to go on the record or they want to put 20 people on the record on this. But basically, 21 that's all it is, and anything else about it 22 is pretty much a waste of time. 23 So it's a puzzlement to me why we 24 would be wasting our time debating this bill 25 today when it has no chance of going through

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the Legislature, no chance of actually 2 arriving on the Governor's desk, when frankly 3 we could be passing legislation that really 4 could go to the Governor's desk. And that, 5 for instance, Timothy's Law. 6 You know, the death penalty 7 experiment is over in New York State. But I 8 can guarantee you that when we pass Timothy's 9 Law, that won't be an experiment. That will 10 be something that will really change people's 11 lives, and it will be something that people 12 will be able to use forever in this state. 13 You know, I just have to say -- now 14 maybe I'm a little bit guilty of it as well -- 15 the only thing that it really could be said 16 that we're doing here is killing time, not 17 making for a bill that's going to make it 18 possible for the state to kill a person. 19 You know, the death penalty brings 20 up a host of emotions and issues which, now 21 that the gate is open, people have been 22 talking about here. And let's face it, one of 23 the issues that the death penalty will bring 24 up, for both the person who would be put to 25 death under the bill and for the families of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the victim, are mental health issues. 2 Let me just mention something about 3 this. Does the death penalty help victims 4 heal? Well, there was a gentleman, Mr. Welch, 5 from Oklahoma City, whose daughter, whose only 6 daughter, Julie Marie Welch, was murdered in 7 the Oklahoma City bombing. Which, by the way, 8 was a terrorist attack by an American 9 Caucasian and, tragically, a New Yorker 10 originally as well, in case anybody forgot who 11 that terrorist was. I believe raised either 12 Protestant or Catholic, also, not Islamic. 13 Anyway, Mr. Welch, who lost his 14 only daughter in the Oklahoma City bombing, 15 you know what happened to him? He spent all 16 of his grieving time and time in the future 17 after the bombing medicating his pain with 18 alcohol. And not only did the death penalty 19 not bring his daughter back, but the death 20 penalty didn't provide treatment for his 21 alcohol addiction. 22 You know what would provide 23 treatment for his alcohol addiction? 24 Treatment for alcohol addiction. Which is in 25 Timothy's Law. Which we could do in this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 session in this Legislature and put it on the 2 Governor's desk for a signature. 3 So alcohol didn't take care of 4 Mr. Welch's pain, the death penalty he said 5 would not take care of his pain. But you know 6 what? A little bit of counseling probably 7 would have taken care of his pain. Maybe not 8 forever, and maybe not completely alleviate 9 it, but certainly help him through the pain. 10 Now, you know, while we're on the 11 topic of the pain of family members of 12 murdered people, there's Pat Webdale, the 13 mother of Kendra Webdale, who was pushed to 14 her death in front of a New York City subway 15 train by a mentally ill man in 1997. You 16 know, the Webdale family campaigned for 17 Kendra's Law, which facilitates mandated 18 treatment for those with serious mental 19 illness. 20 But if that family of Kendra's 21 murderer had had access under Timothy's Law to 22 mental health treatment, perhaps that tragedy 23 could have been avoided. And part of Kendra's 24 Law mandates treatment for those with serious 25 mental illnesses. Well, maybe we should

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 provide optional mental health services for 2 people with mental illness before they murder 3 someone or before they're mandated into 4 treatment because of our law. 5 Now, Senator Padavan had a bill 6 earlier on today which says that a person 7 could be guilty but mentally ill. Well, I 8 don't know what we could do about the guilty 9 part of it, but certainly we could help with 10 the mentally ill part of it if we had a 11 Timothy's Law in New York State, which is 12 something we could do today, actually get 13 accomplished, get it to the Governor's desk. 14 Unlike a death penalty bill, which 15 is going nowhere. Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere. 16 Not going anywhere. Death penalty not going 17 anywhere; Timothy's Law could be on a path to 18 the Governor's desk. 19 You know, one of the things that we 20 know is that -- and studies have shown this, 21 and it's something that actually was raised 22 today by Senator Spano's bill on stalking and 23 domestic violence, "prohibits employers from 24 discriminating against victims of the domestic 25 violence or stalking."

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I'm sure many of you know that 2 stalking and domestic violence often escalates 3 into murder. Right? Murder of a spouse, 4 murder of a domestic partner, murder of a 5 stalking victim. 6 And yet we know that stalking is 7 yet another sign of mental illness and 8 something that potentially could be treated, 9 and people that have that problem could 10 actually get treatment and not have it 11 escalate to the point of murdering a victim if 12 in New York State we had a Timothy's Law. 13 Isn't it better to treat someone 14 with this kind of an illness before they 15 commit a murder, rather than just prosecuting 16 them after the murder? Makes sense to me. 17 And yet we're spending time here on 18 a bill that's going to go nowhere when we have 19 a bill, Timothy's Law, which actually could go 20 somewhere. 21 You know, there's lots and lots of 22 science on the issue of depression and what 23 happens with it. There are studies on the 24 impact of depression and people on welfare not 25 being able to get to work because of that.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 More treatment would mean more research, more 2 money going into research of mental illness, 3 more people could be helped. 4 You know, in New York State, even 5 if you are a person who under the pieces of 6 legislation we see put before us today -- in 7 the period of time when someone is 8 incarcerated under the bills that are being 9 proposed today, Senator Volker's bill and 10 Senator Golden's bill, when a person is 11 incarcerated they could potentially end up in 12 a special housing unit. 13 And you know what we do in New York 14 State with mentally ill people? We warehouse 15 them in prisons and most of them end up in 16 special housing units, a place where persons 17 who potentially could get the death penalty 18 might end up as well. That's what we do with 19 people in prison, we put them in special 20 housing units instead of getting them 21 treatment for mental illness. 22 And some people actually get 23 released from special housing units right into 24 the world, oftentimes without Medicaid 25 benefits and no access to mental health

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 services, which I say perhaps they should have 2 been getting before they were incarcerated, 3 while they were incarcerated, and after they 4 get out. And if we had Timothy's Law, we 5 could have that. 6 But instead of talking about 7 Timothy's Law, we're talking about the death 8 penalty, which has no chance of passing when 9 Timothy's Law actually has a chance of 10 passing. 11 Now, Massachusetts does not have a 12 death penalty. But I want to talk about 13 another case of where potentially the death 14 penalty could apply. And that's the case of 15 Father Geoghan, who was accused of molesting 16 many children over decades. Who I would also 17 say, though he probably had access to mental 18 health care -- because the Catholic Church I 19 think provides healthcare for -- I know for 20 priests, I'm not sure about nuns, but 21 definitely for priests, parish priests, 22 diocesan priests. Anyway, he didn't get the 23 treatment he needed and he went on and he 24 continued to molest children. 25 And he was incarcerated for

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 10 years on the one charge that they got him 2 on, although they stopped after they got this 3 because he got a 10-year sentence for 4 inappropriately touching a boy in swimming 5 hole. And off he went to prison, to 6 protective custody. Probably in New York 7 State he would have been put in a special 8 housing unit, because it was the kind of place 9 where he was only allowed a little bit of the 10 time. 11 And then he was murdered by a young 12 man who was a white supremacist, I would say 13 probably of the terrorist category as well. 14 And Father Geoghan was murdered by this, you 15 know, Aryan Nation guy, Joseph Druce, and he 16 was murdered in prison. 17 And, you know, because of where 18 this happened, the circumstances, this Joseph 19 Druce probably would be eligible for the death 20 penalty. Right? And to what good? Would 21 that have stopped these kids from being 22 molested earlier on by Father Geoghan? No. 23 Probably what would have stopped 24 him was if the Catholic Church had recognized 25 that they had members of the clergy who were

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 doing terrible things and should be moved 2 around and should be stopped from doing 3 terrible things. But of course we haven't 4 even passed comprehensive clergy abuse stuff 5 in this Legislature yet, which we could 6 actually pass and get onto the Governor's 7 desk. But instead, the death penalty. 8 Which, you know, this is the end of 9 the line here in the Senate. It's not moving 10 past here. This is it. It's not going 11 anywhere after this. So all the things that 12 we're not doing that we could be doing, but 13 instead we're debating a bill which is going 14 nowhere fast. 15 So, you know, the death penalty, 16 who is that going to help? It's not going to 17 stop the crime from being committed. It's not 18 going to really give most families the kind of 19 closure that they need. You know, it's not 20 going to do any of those things. 21 But what we could be doing to help 22 people is passing a Timothy's Law. What we 23 could be doing is passing a comprehensive 24 package of clergy abuse bills which not only 25 would give some closure to victims, give them

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 a chance to have a day in court, but would 2 also, I hope, make it so that cycle wouldn't 3 continue. Because, you know, when we heard 4 from victims, it wasn't about the money, it 5 was about two things: One, acknowledgment 6 that what happened to them had actually 7 happened to them; and the other thing to stop 8 it from happening to people in the future. 9 So in a weird kind of way, the 10 death penalty doesn't even give people the 11 acknowledgement that the person is actually 12 guilty. I mean, we don't know any more than 13 what might happen in court. And we know of 14 people who are, because of the advances in DNA 15 technology and other things -- that actually 16 were at risk of being given the death penalty 17 but turned out to be innocent. But if they're 18 dead, they're not going to be able to come 19 back. 20 So again, who is getting helped 21 here? Not the families, who again it doesn't 22 give them closure too. And yet we could help 23 them if we provided mental health services 24 through Timothy's Law, so that everybody in 25 New York State could get access to mental

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 health services. You know, those are things 2 that we really could be doing here. 3 You know, for the last, I think 4 it's like five years now -- or I don't know 5 how many years, but for a while. You know, 6 the years just kind of flow into each other 7 here -- we've been wasting our time on 8 one-house death penalty bills. And we could 9 actually be working on bills that have a 10 chance of getting passed by both houses and 11 onto the Governor's desk, like a Timothy's 12 Law. 13 You know, we have one and a half 14 weeks left. We could have had -- you know, if 15 we were going to do this debate, we could have 16 done it in January, we could have done it in 17 February, when we weren't actually doing a 18 whole lot around here. Right? And then now 19 we could really be at the table getting laws 20 passed that would really help people, like 21 Timothy's Law. 22 One and a half weeks left. One and 23 a half weeks left to help all New Yorkers, to 24 help every New York family to have access to 25 things that they need. I don't really see

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 that they're clamoring for the death penalty. 2 I think what they want is parity for mental 3 health care. I hear from lots and lots of 4 families that say we really need this for our 5 family, we need this for our children. 6 I mean, we've heard from Timothy's 7 dad. He really could have used this bill, and 8 this bill would have saved the life of his son 9 Timothy. The death penalty wouldn't have 10 saved his son. What potentially could have 11 saved his son? Timothy's Law. Access to 12 mental health care. That could have saved his 13 son. Not the death penalty. Nope, not the 14 death penalty. Mental health parity, 15 Timothy's Law, that would have saved the life 16 of his son. Right? 17 And in a week and a half, we could 18 actually make that right. We can't and I 19 don't think we should fix the death penalty, 20 because no matter how much we try to fix it, 21 it ain't going anywhere. Not going anywhere 22 this year. 23 Timothy's Law, Timothy's Law could 24 go to this year. Timothy's Law could pass. 25 We could help people get the mental health

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 treatment that they really, really need. It 2 might help it so that we wouldn't have to keep 3 warehousing seriously mentally ill people in 4 prisons and in special housing units. 5 We could make it so that victims of 6 clergy abuse could get redress, could stop 7 that horrible cycle. We could provide mental 8 health for families and victims of clergy 9 abuse. We could help people before they're 10 incarcerated. But no. Nope, we're not doing 11 that. We're not doing Timothy's Law, just the 12 death penalty. 13 So a week and a half. Let's stop 14 wasting our time on one-house bills that are 15 just trying to fix bills that got rejected 16 because they're poorly drafted and, frankly, 17 people were pretty darn ambivalent about it to 18 begin with. Let's do something that we know 19 that people feel strongly about on both sides 20 of the aisle, on both sides of the aisle. 21 Timothy's Law has overwhelming 22 support on both sides of the aisle in both 23 houses, and the overwhelming support of 24 New Yorkers. Why don't we do something for 25 New Yorkers? Why don't we do something for

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 New York families? Why don't we make sure 2 that every New Yorker gets access to mental 3 health treatment? 4 I'm going to vote no on this bill, 5 and I encourage my colleagues to do that. But 6 I encourage my colleagues to make it possible 7 for us all to vote yes on Timothy's Law. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 10 Bonacic. 11 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 First I want to thank our 14 colleagues. I guess you're all battle-weary. 15 We've been hearing about the death penalty now 16 for almost two hours and 20 minutes. Just -- 17 I want to be very brief and I want to try and 18 say a couple of things that haven't been said 19 in the last two hours and 15 minutes. 20 I first came to the Assembly in 21 1990 in a special election. And when I ran, 22 people said that I was going to be the 100th 23 vote to override Governor Cuomo's veto of the 24 death penalty in the Assembly. And Speaker 25 Miller at the time was there.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 To make a long story short, today, 2 16 years later, there is more opposition to 3 the death penalty. And that's okay, because 4 people's views on a particular issue change. 5 And it's reflected by their elected officials. 6 There's been criticism, why are we 7 standing up here on a one-house bill when we 8 could be doing bills that are closer to 9 getting done by two houses. And I respect 10 that statement. 11 However, the issue of justice and 12 to change the momentum back to where it was 13 could start today, knowing that two people 14 running for Governor on both sides of the 15 aisle want the death penalty reinstated. 16 But having said all of that, I try 17 to understand why people would vote no, not 18 only on the death penalty but on many criminal 19 issues. For example, eliminating the statute 20 of limitations on the rape of women. 21 Expanding DNA testing for criminals that have 22 been arrested. GPS monitoring of third-level 23 predators. Civil confinement of third-level 24 predators. There's resistance on all that 25 litigation.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 So you wonder why, why is there 2 resistance. And this is the two things that I 3 could figure out. When I heard Senator Parker 4 speak, he said, in so many words, it's not 5 individual responsibility that causes someone 6 to kill, it's the failure of society. 7 The failure of society, whether it 8 be housing, whether it be in a good education, 9 whether it be in a home nurturing, whether it 10 be in opportunity for jobs. It's not the 11 individual's fault, it's society's fault. And 12 therefore, when that individual kills, whether 13 he kills a police officer, a child, a senior 14 citizen, he should not be put to death. 15 And I disagree with that value 16 system, that judgment. So that's why I 17 support the two death penalty bills of Senator 18 Golden and Senator Volker. 19 The second reason why people oppose 20 this legislation, it was suggested spiritual 21 grounds. Some people believe in redemption, 22 that no human being is totally evil and 23 they're capable of being rehabilitated. 24 That's a value judgment. I disagree with 25 that.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I think, like Senator Meier, some 2 people may not at birth be evil but they 3 became evil. And I'll just take three or four 4 categories. The terrorists that took out the 5 two Twin Towers. The drug dealers, the big 6 drug dealers that order indiscriminate 7 killing. Gang leaders that order 8 indiscriminate killing. The serial killers, 9 admitted killers through confessions, they are 10 evil. And for the protection of society in 11 the prison -- Senator Nozzolio talked about 12 that -- then that's another reason for the 13 death penalty. 14 But you never know why someone 15 votes no unless you walk in that person's 16 shoes. Okay? 17 Now, we talk of class differences, 18 we talk of minority differences and how people 19 are treated. Well, let me tell you, there are 20 a lot of poor Caucasians that don't have 21 housing, don't have educational opportunities, 22 don't have job opportunities, as well as 23 Hispanic, Asian and Afro-American. 24 Never, never, never does it give an 25 individual the right to kill. In my humble

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 opinion, in my value judgments. But what is 2 disturbing to me from what I heard not so much 3 on the death penalty is the great divide, how 4 different groups look at police officers, how 5 they look at authority. And that is a bigger 6 problem than the bill we're debating today. 7 On movies and television they talk 8 of Afro-Americans, Hispanics, other minorities 9 not trusting the police officer. He's the bad 10 guy. Now, that goes to the morals of our 11 society and what keeps America strong. I just 12 call it the great divide. And we, we, both of 13 us, on both sides of the aisle -- because I 14 know every elected official here is 15 well-intentioned, is a humanitarian, wants to 16 help humanity and human beings, or you 17 wouldn't be in this job. You want to do the 18 right thing. 19 And we have different views on how 20 to get there. But we collectively have to 21 work on the great divide and how we can make 22 it smaller and smaller and eventually make it 23 disappear, so we can make America stronger. 24 Because we need every American pulling for 25 America and not fighting each other.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 I vote yes. I did on the police 2 bill, I'm voting yes on this bill. 3 Thank you, Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank 5 you. 6 Senator Onorato. 7 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. President, 8 will Senator Volker yield for a question, 9 please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 11 Volker, will you yield? 12 SENATOR VOLKER: Certainly. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: 14 Continue. 15 SENATOR ONORATO: You mentioned 16 the fact that we revisited the death penalty 17 on numerous occasions and the courts have 18 interceded on most of these occasions, making 19 it necessary for us to come and revisit it. 20 Now, the very latest stumbling 21 block was just very, very recently, with the 22 United States Supreme Court now making it okay 23 for a person awaiting the death penalty to now 24 challenge it on grounds that it's cruel and 25 inhumane treatment by injection.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Now, what method of the death 2 penalty is in this bill that would satisfy the 3 court that it's not cruel and inhumane? I 4 mean, I can't possibly envision any particular 5 way that it's not cruel or inhumane, depending 6 on how you look at it. Is it fast and simple, 7 or is it a slow death? 8 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator, first 9 of all, that's a challenge which I'm sure is 10 going to go down. The Supreme Court hasn't 11 ruled that any of the execution methods that 12 I'm aware of are cruel and unusual punishment. 13 We have gone from the electric chair because 14 of squeamish people -- mostly in New York 15 City, I'll be honest with you -- to lethal 16 injection. 17 Lethal injection is still allowed 18 everywhere in this country that I'm aware of. 19 Some states, by the way, use hanging. I think 20 the biggest problem with methods has not to do 21 with the person but more to do with people 22 that are watching. I really do believe that. 23 We did a hearing on this, a couple of 24 hearings. 25 But the answer is it's almost

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 inconceivable that our Supreme Court would 2 rule in favor of that objection. Remember, 3 there have been tons of objections to the 4 death penalty for -- I mean, everybody objects 5 to the death penalty, especially the 6 anti-death penalty people. Many of them feel 7 it's wrong and therefore whatever they do is 8 okay. Some of them. 9 And by the way, the people in this 10 chamber that are opposed to the death penalty, 11 I hope you understand I am not talking about 12 us. And there are many people who 13 legitimately oppose the death penalty. And 14 this chamber has had lusty debates -- "lusty" 15 is probably not a good word, but you 16 understand what I mean -- on this issue for 17 many years. And we've had very good debates. 18 I think my discouragement is in 19 people who give numbers, some law professors 20 who give phoney, phoney numbers. And that 21 really does bother me. I think that -- I 22 believe in truth. And truth -- the old saying 23 is the truth will make you free. And you make 24 a point. There are challenges, and it could 25 be a problem.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 No court has ever ruled this 2 statute unconstitutional. The statute that we 3 have here is formulated out of a bunch of 4 statutes across the country that have all been 5 declared constitutional. The method? For the 6 most part, the Supreme Court has stayed away 7 from method issues. But the chances of the 8 Supreme Court of the United States finding in 9 favor of lethal injection I think is virtually 10 zero. But if they do, it could give us a 11 problem, that's true. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator 13 Breslin. 14 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 Many of the speakers today have 17 talked about participating in the debate in 18 '95. And of course we took this up some 15 19 months ago, in March of '05. 20 I didn't have that opportunity in 21 1995. I looked upon it, as Senator Duane had 22 said, from afar with a certain point of view. 23 I was a recent high school graduate, I 24 believe. And looking at it, I felt 25 uncomfortable that I wasn't able to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 participate in it. Because if I had, I would 2 have been against the death penalty. 3 So I must say, before I make any 4 comments on this, on the death penalty itself, 5 I'm opposed to it. 6 Now, we've heard discussions on 7 both sides, episodic and otherwise, on is it a 8 deterrent. And you look in New York State, 9 you look in New York City, how the murder rate 10 has gone down dramatically at a time when 11 there's been a long-time district attorney 12 there who will not prosecute murder cases, 13 first-degree murder cases. 14 And you look at where you're from, 15 Mr. President, in the Monroe County area, 16 where the murder rate is four times that of 17 the New York City area. 18 And then we look at the racial 19 component of it. And Senator Nozzolio so 20 eloquently looked at the seal behind you, 21 Mr. President. He talked about the two women 22 there. And one of the women happens to have 23 blinders on, which says, in effect, that we 24 will give out penalties in a fair and 25 equitable way.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 But unfortunately, in this country, 2 we don't do that. That you're much more 3 likely to face the death penalty if you're a 4 person of color who has killed a white and 5 much more likely to face the death penalty if 6 you're a person of color to begin with. So 7 the fact that our Lady of Justice has blinders 8 on sometimes doesn't work out as well as we 9 would expect. 10 And, you know, there was a study 11 done -- in terms of error in murder cases, 12 there was a study done that 15 months ago 13 Senator Liz Krueger quoted, that 67 percent of 14 the first-degree murder cases have reversible 15 error. Talking about first-degree murder 16 cases. Now in this country there's been over 17 120 people who were sentenced to death who 18 they've found that they were unfairly 19 accused -- because of DNA, because of other 20 evidence, because of the lack of proper 21 representation. 22 And then we set ourselves aside as 23 a country at a time when most civilized 24 countries, if they did have the death penalty, 25 are doing away with it. The European Union

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 says you can't even be a part of our union if 2 you have the death penalty on your record. 3 So we continue to be like the 4 civilized countries who retain the death 5 penalty -- Iran, for example. So I'd like to 6 set us aside from those kinds of countries, to 7 be a more civilized country, to make sure 8 that -- and as a matter of fact, many of us 9 would think that putting someone in prison for 10 the rest of their lives is much harsher than 11 executing someone. And when we execute 12 someone, in a sense we are acting like the 13 person that we execute. 14 So for all of those reasons, I vote 15 no. Thank you, Madam President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 17 you, Senator Breslin. 18 Senator Maziarz. 19 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 20 much, Madam President. 21 I rise in support of Senator 22 Volker's bill, as I did last year and probably 23 will again next year. And I just want to make 24 a couple of points. 25 First, to harken back to our last

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 debate on the last bill -- not that we can get 2 back into that, but a point was made by my 3 very good and well-respected colleague Senator 4 Schneiderman that we all know that this is a 5 one-house bill. In fact, it's been referred 6 to in the past as a one-house bill. 7 Actually, I think that 8 eventually -- maybe not this year, maybe not 9 next year, but eventually this bill will pass 10 in the other house. And it's going to pass 11 for probably the wrong reasons. 12 And this is what I consider to be 13 one of our dirty little secrets of Albany. 14 This is something that, quite frankly, I don't 15 know that I ever have say publicly, that I'm 16 embarrassed to be a member of the New York 17 State Legislature. But the one thing that 18 does embarrass me is that you know what will 19 get this bill passed in the other house is the 20 politics of a particular incident. And I'll 21 give you an example. 22 Several years ago, a woman was 23 out -- on Mother's Day, ironically -- her name 24 was Penny Brown, in Senator Young's district. 25 And a young 15-year-old murdered Penny Brown

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 on Mother's Day, raped and murdered her. 2 And Senator Young, then in the 3 New York State Assembly, produced a bill to 4 punish juveniles who committed crimes like 5 homicide murder in an adult fashion. Much, 6 much more strict and much more severe than the 7 phoney bill that was passed many years ago 8 which just moved those types of crimes from 9 Family Court over to County Court. 10 And, you know, that bill languished 11 in the New York State Assembly, went nowhere. 12 Senator Young, then Assemblyperson Young, held 13 press conferences and tried to get, you know, 14 some activity from the majority over there, 15 and nothing happened. 16 And then there was a very heinous 17 murder in upstate New York in the district of 18 a majority member of the New York State 19 Assembly. Two brothers, 15 and 16 years old, 20 murdered a 16-year-old girl. And out of my 21 respect for all of my colleagues in this room 22 and the staff that works in this room, I won't 23 tell you what they did to that young girl 24 because you would not be able to comprehend it 25 or be able to hold down your lunch if I told

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 you what these 15- and-16-year-old brothers 2 did to this 16-year-old girl. 3 But, you know, the geography was 4 important because it happened to happen in the 5 district of a majority member on the Assembly 6 side. And that majority member went out and 7 put pressure on the Speaker and joined with 8 Assemblyperson Young at the time, and public 9 pressure. 10 And the mother of that young girl, 11 you know, at a lot of public events said: Why 12 won't the Assembly majority pass this bill? 13 Why is the Assembly majority so prone not to 14 do criminal justice legislation which punishes 15 perpetrators of crime? 16 And guess what? Eventually, you 17 know, Penny's Law was passed by the majority 18 in the other side. 19 So I think, you know, again, it's 20 embarrassing, it's a shame on both of our 21 houses that that's what it's going to take to 22 get this legislation passed into law in 23 New York. But it's going to happen. You 24 know, there's another David Berkowitz out 25 there somewhere. And when it happens,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 probably in the downstate area of New York, 2 the other side will then listen because of 3 public pressure and, you know, the news media 4 will change and we'll get it passed. 5 I could not have this debate 6 today -- the opponents of this legislation 7 often quote experts and statisticians and 8 legal scholars about the death penalty and 9 whether it's preventive or not. And, you 10 know, very, very rarely do we hear from the 11 opponents of victims. Very rarely. Now, of 12 course, Senator Schneiderman is going to call 13 his staff and they're going to start getting 14 examples of victims. But very rarely do we 15 hear about victims. 16 And last year when we had this 17 debate I mentioned three victims, and I'm 18 going to mention them again. 19 First and foremost, as always, from 20 the Syracuse area, Senator Valesky's area, is 21 a young woman by the name of Jill Cahill. Not 22 my constituent, not known by me. This is 23 actually the legislation which the Court of 24 Appeals, Judge Kaye, shamefully, shamefully 25 overturned the death penalty litigation in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 state of New York on. 2 Jill Cahill was just a young woman 3 in a lousy marriage. She wasn't, you know, 4 very well educated; had a couple of young 5 kids. Her husband beat her up on a regular 6 basis. The second to the last time that he 7 beat her, he used a baseball bat. And the 8 doctors at Syracuse Hospital estimated that he 9 must have hit her in the head at least four 10 times with a baseball bat, putting her in the 11 hospital. You know, and he was arrested 12 again, for about the eighth or ninth time or 13 something like that. 14 But he didn't kill her. She was 15 actually getting better in the hospital. 16 After spending many weeks in the honest, she 17 was getting better. And he knew that she was 18 getting better. And despite the fact that 19 there was the order of protection, despite the 20 fact that he was out on bail and all those 21 things, he surreptitiously gained entry into 22 the hospital with a wig and a gown, and he 23 went into her hospital room. 24 And the prosecutor proved at trial 25 that what he probably -- what he did attempt

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 to do was inject her intravenous tube with 2 cyanide poisoning, but that didn't work. She 3 kept breathing. So what he did, out of 4 exasperation and the fact that he was afraid 5 somebody would come in the room, he just 6 poured it down her throat and made her swallow 7 cyanide. Her autopsy photo showed scars 8 outside on her cheeks, down her neck, where 9 the poison, as she was obviously gargling and 10 spitting it up, burned the side of her cheek. 11 And of course they went to trial, 12 and he was found guilty. And then they had 13 the penalty phase of the trial. I think maybe 14 the only time that that's happened in the 15 state of New York. And those jurors painfully 16 went through all of the evidence, decided, 17 despite the fact that several of the jurors 18 were opposed to the death penalty, decided 19 that James Cahill, her husband should receive 20 the death penalty. And of course the court 21 overturned that, and James Cahill is still 22 sitting in prison today. 23 And, you know, the other point I 24 want to make, Madam President, is we talk 25 about life in prison without parole. And that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 clearly is, in the eyes of some, a just 2 punishment. You know, let them rot in jail 3 for the rest of their life. The only problem 4 with that is it gives them the opportunity to 5 further victimize their victims. 6 James Cahill, on the anniversary of 7 the day that he murdered his wife, on the 8 anniversary of the day that he murdered his 9 wife, Madam President, he filed an action in 10 Family Court to force his wife's family to 11 bring his two young children to visit him in 12 court. 13 David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, I 14 understand on Mother's Day sends Mother's Day 15 greetings to the mother of one of his victims, 16 Stacy Moskowitz. On Mother's Day, he sends a 17 Mother's Day card to the mother of the girl 18 that he murdered and said some very vile 19 things about during the course of his trial. 20 That's the problem with life in 21 prison without the possibility of parole. It 22 gives them the opportunity to further 23 victimize their victims. 24 I could go on and on, about the 25 Wendy's murders -- you know, just people going

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 to work at probably, back then, a 2 $7-or-8-an-hour job, marched down in the 3 basement of Wendy's, told to kneel down, and 4 shot in the back of the head execution-style. 5 Their murderer is alive today. 6 And I know that these cases become 7 causes for celebrity. Roger Keith Coleman was 8 an individual, not in New York State, who made 9 the cover of Time Magazine. Time Magazine 10 said: This man might be innocent, but he is 11 going to die. This is a couple of weeks 12 before his scheduled execution. 13 And his execution was carried out, 14 and there was again people -- Jim McCloskey, a 15 former business executive, who gave up 16 everything he had in his life to become part 17 of Centurion Ministries, to prove how wrong 18 they were about the execution of Roger Keith 19 Coleman. 20 And after he was executed, the 21 governor, in order to try to bring closure to 22 the case, because it was very controversial in 23 that state, ordered additional DNA testing 24 using some new DNA methods. And guess what 25 they found out? That Roger Keith Coleman,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 despite all of his protestations about not 2 having been anywhere near the scene of this 3 murder, was in fact, without any doubt 4 whatsoever, the murderer and rapist of this 5 young girl. 6 How shocking it is, isn't it, that 7 a serial rapist and murderer, a rapist and a 8 murderer, could also be a liar. Shocking, 9 isn't it? 10 Senator Volker has brought this up 11 before. And, you know, it will probably be 12 coming up years into the future. But 13 eventually this will become law, because 14 eventually there will be changes. I am 15 heartened to hear, I didn't realize that both 16 candidates for governor are supporters of the 17 death penalty in the State of New York. 18 That's a good thing, because that means that 19 this debate will be carried to the streets 20 during the course of this campaign. 21 Madam President, I am very much in 22 support of this bill. And I would ask, in 23 memory of Jill Cahill, that we pass this bill 24 today in the Senate. 25 Thank you, Madam President.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 2 you, Senator Maziarz. 3 Senator Liz Krueger. 4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 5 Madam President. On the bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On the 7 bill. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Well, we've 9 heard a lot of people talking on both death 10 penalty bills today. 11 Murder is heinous. There are evil 12 people. There are sociopaths. There are 13 serial killers. There are, in my opinion, 14 people too damaged to ever be healed. And 15 I'll leave the question of redemption to the 16 theologians. 17 But I heard a lot of my colleagues 18 using the term "civil society" today in their 19 text while appearing fairly bloodthirsty in 20 their desire to punish those who have 21 murdered. And I would argue that the 22 definition of assuring a civil society is to 23 make sure that we don't bring ourselves down 24 to the same level as the people we are 25 speaking of today, the murderers.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 One Senator mentioned that he came 2 here 16 years earlier, as an Assembly member, 3 to deal with this bill. And he said, what's 4 changed in 16 years? And I would argue one 5 thing that has changed is we have enormous 6 data, 16 years later, as to why we should not 7 have a death penalty in the United States. 8 And I would argue that in addition 9 to the points that were made earlier by many 10 of my colleagues -- that we don't have a 11 perfect judicial system, that we have racial 12 bias in our judicial system, that we have 13 proof that the death penalty is not a 14 deterrent to evil people who in fact sometimes 15 do evil things -- what we know 16 years later 16 is that we have an imperfect system and we 17 sometimes put people in prison under death 18 penalty laws throughout this country who are 19 later found not to be guilty of their crimes. 20 And that if we are a society who is 21 prepared to put people to death, and in some 22 cases innocent people to death, then we are a 23 society that would flunk the test of civility. 24 And because not so much data has 25 been offered up in the arguments today, I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 would like to just, for the record, list some 2 information. 3 Since 1973, at least 119 people 4 have been released from death row across this 5 country after evidence of their innocence was 6 uncovered. This represents approximately one 7 wrongful conviction for every eight 8 executions. I repeat, one wrongful conviction 9 for every eight executions. And these people 10 have spent an average of eight years on death 11 row before the truth finally came out, and 12 many of them spent far longer awaiting 13 execution for the crime they did not commit. 14 And in virtually all of these 15 cases, justice was not finally served because 16 the system worked but because of extraordinary 17 efforts by people outside the criminal justice 18 system who looked into these cases and fought 19 to get to the truth. 20 New York's own history is strewn 21 with stories of innocent people convicted of 22 murders they did not commit. Many of them 23 testified at hearings that the Assembly held a 24 year ago on this topic. 25 Some of these stories include the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 one of Bobby McLaughlin, who was wrongfully 2 sentenced to life in prison for a 1979 3 Brooklyn murder. The state's primary witness 4 only picked McLaughlin out of a police lineup 5 after the police had shown him a picture of 6 McLaughlin, who had been previously arrested. 7 Leading comments by the police like these are 8 common and often contribute to mistaken 9 eyewitness ID. Even worse, though the fact 10 was the police provided the picture to 11 witnesses, it was of the wrong Bobby 12 McLaughlin -- a man with the same name, but no 13 relationship. 14 Despite this major and clear error, 15 it took six years and the extraordinary effort 16 of many to prove his innocence. Had we had a 17 death penalty available in 1980, he might have 18 been executed. 19 According to a 2002 Newsday 20 investigation, there were 13 New Yorkers 21 released after serving time for murders they 22 did not commit just in the four-year period 23 1998 to 2002 alone. 24 I don't know what anyone else's 25 definition of a civil society is, but for me a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 society that says if you put someone else to 2 death, we will choose to put you to death, 3 despite the fact that we cannot possibly have 4 a perfect judicial system and process that 5 will guarantee that we are always right, is 6 not a society that is civil. Senator Breslin 7 mentioned many European countries don't even 8 allow consideration of the death penalty. 9 It doesn't bring people back. It 10 doesn't deter future crimes. We do have an 11 alternative option. It is a good one. It is 12 life in prison without parole. We can protect 13 our citizens from the evil people amongst us 14 by ensuring that evil people go to jail for 15 the rest of their lives. We should not -- 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 17 you. 18 Senator Nozzolio, why do you rise? 19 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 20 President, I ask the speaker to yield. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. 23 Senator Krueger, do you yield? 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I have one 25 more sentence. If you don't mind, Senator,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 let me finish my last sentence and then I'll 2 be happy to yield. 3 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 4 President, the speaker asks, continually, 5 others to yield. 6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm just 7 going to finish my sentence, Madam 8 President -- 9 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: I'm asking the 10 speaker to yield. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm going 12 to continue my final statement, and then I'll 13 be happy to yield. Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 15 Nozzolio, Senator Krueger does not yield. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 17 Madam President. 18 Even with DNA research, we know 19 that we have made mistakes in death penalty 20 cases. Other states have proposed evaluations 21 of their death penalty laws before they move 22 forward with the death penalty. This bill 23 does not meet any of the standards being 24 proposed in other states. And so for these 25 reasons, I argue we should not reinstate a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 death penalty in New York. Thank you very 2 much. 3 And now I would be happy to yield 4 to Senator Nozzolio. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 6 you. 7 Senator Nozzolio, do you wish to -- 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 9 President, it's extremely discourteous when a 10 member asks a member to yield and that member 11 refuses. I've stood in this chamber countless 12 times and have yielded to Senator Krueger 13 immediately upon the request. 14 I think that that certainly is 15 something that is discourteous, and I state 16 that in my question to Senator Krueger, just 17 reminding the countless times that I've 18 complied with your request to yield. The one 19 time I've ever requested you to yield, you've 20 asked to finish a sentence. Frankly, I think 21 that's discourteous and would hope that in the 22 future you treat your colleague with more 23 courtesies. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Point of 25 order.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 The Senator requested to be able to 2 ask a question. Senator Krueger yielded, as 3 often takes place in this house on both sides 4 of the aisle, people ask to be able to finish 5 their statements and then they'll be glad to 6 yield. That's all she did. It is extremely 7 common. 8 If the Senator has a question, I'd 9 appreciate it if he'd ask it rather than 10 accusing people of discourtesy who are trying 11 to be courteous. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you. 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you. 15 Madam President, will Senator Krueger yield? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 17 you. 18 Senator Krueger, do you yield? 19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, Madam 20 President, I already agreed to yield. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. The Senator yields. 23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 24 President, my question to Senator Krueger is, 25 how does she intend to protect the correction

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 officers in our state, those correctional 2 personnel in our state, well over 30,000 3 individuals who labor, laying their lives on 4 the line each and every day, walking in most 5 cases the toughest beat in America? How does 6 she intend to protect them from those who have 7 been convicted of murder, have nothing left to 8 lose, and have already exhibited tremendously 9 violent behavior? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 11 Krueger. 12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 You know, it's interesting, I did 15 not read for the record the pages and pages of 16 organizations who actually argue against the 17 death penalty, and it includes quite a few in 18 law enforcement. 19 I actually have a document here 20 signed off by law enforcement organizations 21 arguing that the death penalty will not make 22 them safer in their jobs but, rather, that 23 they need better staffing ratios to do the 24 jobs they do, they need better protective 25 equipment, they need to ensure that criminals

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 don't have weapons, guns and other weapons, 2 available to themselves. 3 So I would respectfully argue that 4 in fact if we were to talk to the law 5 enforcement experts in this state, we would 6 hear from them that they have a very long list 7 of issues that they hope we will accomplish 8 legislatively and budgetarily that would make 9 them more safe in their jobs. 10 But that there is not, again, a 11 strong argument that the death penalty would 12 be a deterrent even for people in a prison 13 situation from the perspective of the safety 14 of our officers. 15 Thank you, Madam President. 16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 17 President, will Senator Krueger continue to 18 yield? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you. 21 Senator Krueger, do you continue to 22 yield? 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I do, 24 Madam President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Senator yields. 2 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Respectfully, 3 Madam President, I don't believe Senator 4 Krueger has answered my question. Other than 5 to say this should be discarded to other law 6 enforcement officials to consider. 7 That each member of this conference 8 who has spoken out in favor of this bill or 9 the last bill have talked of law enforcement 10 officers who in fact indicate that this is 11 exactly the type of protection they desire. 12 We're not asking -- we don't have to read 13 additional articles, we don't have to do 14 additional surveys or conduct additional polls 15 or even hearings. Law enforcement officers 16 are telling us this is something they want for 17 the protection of particularly those COs. 18 I'm saying would Senator Krueger -- 19 SENATOR CONNOR: Point of order, 20 Madam President. I'm waiting for the 21 question. I've waited for two minutes of 22 dialogue here. It's a debate, it's not a 23 question. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: I 25 believe Senator Nozzolio has asked a question.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 He's explaining further his question. 2 Continue. 3 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 4 Madam President. 5 What particular sanctions does 6 Senator Krueger have in place to suggest the 7 protection of our correctional personnel who 8 work behind bars governing the most violent of 9 criminals in our state? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. 12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 I believe now that I understand the 15 question was specific to correctional officers 16 in our prison system, not police officers per 17 se out on the street. 18 Again, for the record, there are 19 quite a few police organizations who have come 20 out formally against the death penalty. 21 And I suppose the answer to the 22 question for correctional officers is in fact 23 is there no other option available to them to 24 protect them in the prisons. I have to 25 believe that's not the case. I have to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 believe we have very -- in most circumstances, 2 good mechanisms in place. Because I'm not 3 aware of that many situations, with thousands 4 and thousands of people in our prison system, 5 where we have death penalty type of cases 6 arising out of people who are already in 7 prison. 8 We certainly have the ability to 9 do, I believe in New York State, and it's 10 controversial in its own right, almost 24/7 11 individual lockup where you have no access 12 either to the general prison population or to 13 correction officers. 14 Again, my argument, Madam 15 President, is that in a civil society the 16 right answer is not the death penalty. And 17 certainly from a statistical research 18 analysis, as a deterrent for further crime the 19 death penalty has also proved not to be an 20 effective deterrent. 21 I suppose an added irony I might 22 add in this situation is these are people who 23 are already in prison but, I gather we assume, 24 not on death row. If you had the death 25 penalty specifically -- if I'm to understand

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 your question correctly, Senator -- if you 2 were to have a death penalty unique only to 3 those already in lockup in our prison system, 4 you would then move them from being in prison 5 to being on death row in prison, perhaps again 6 for extended numbers of years. 7 So it's not obvious to me how that 8 would change the daily scenario for correction 9 officers, because again it would be someone 10 still in the prison system under an additional 11 set of charges, perhaps, or even found guilty 12 of additional crimes, but still they are in 13 the prison system, now technically on death 14 row. 15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 16 President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 18 Nozzolio. 19 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Will Senator 20 Krueger continue to yield? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 22 Krueger, do you continue to yield? 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I do, 24 Madam President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Senator yields. 2 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 3 President, my question is very simple. What 4 is Senator Krueger's intention if a convicted 5 murderer, life without parole, sentenced to 6 life without parole, commits another murder 7 while they're in prison, what is Senator 8 Krueger's suggestion for appropriate sanctions 9 and punishment for that convicted murderer? 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 11 Madam President. 12 I believe I did -- I do understand 13 the question. I'm not sure it's different 14 than the one I just answered. 15 I think that the answer is that in 16 reality, as I stated several times, there are 17 some truly evil people in our midst that have 18 no ability for redemption. And the question 19 is what can you to control to make sure that 20 they are not in a position to murder again. 21 Which I suppose in the situation you are 22 describing, or the hypothetical you are 23 describing, is a much more intense and careful 24 lockup procedure within the prison. 25 Again, I don't believe that your

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 question leads me to reevaluate my argument of 2 why we should not have a death penalty in our 3 society. But again, I think you are speaking 4 of a very subspecific analysis. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 11 Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: On the bill, 13 Madam President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 15 you. Senator Klein, on the bill. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Back in 1995 when 17 we passed our original death penalty statute, 18 I voted for it then and spoke on the floor in 19 the State Assembly. 20 Over 10 years later, I still remain 21 in favor of the death penalty. I don't think 22 anything has really changed other than the 23 fact that we're lucky enough that we've seen a 24 tremendous decrease in crime in New York 25 State.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 And I think it's incumbent upon us 2 to continue what we did 12 years ago. It was 3 passed by the Legislature. I still have some 4 doubts whether or not the bill that we passed 5 should have been found unconstitutional by the 6 Court of Appeals. 7 But I really don't want to go on 8 and talk in favor of the death penalty, even 9 though I still remain committed, I still 10 believe that it is a deterrent to crime. As a 11 matter of fact -- I had the opportunity 12 earlier to speak to Senator Volker -- the 13 seminal study in this area done by Isaac 14 Ehrlich, which is entitled "The Deterrent 15 Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of 16 Life and Death," still remains something that 17 I believe in. 18 According to Ehrlich's study, for 19 every dangerous individual who commits such a 20 heinous act that that person is executed, 21 there's a three-to-one margin; for every one 22 person, three people's lives are saved, 23 according to Mr. Ehrlich. 24 What's interesting about 25 Dr. Ehrlich, he's someone who himself is not

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 in favor of the death penalty, yet he put 2 together this very, very important study which 3 does show that there is a deterrent effect of 4 the death penalty. 5 Even if there wasn't that type of 6 evidence, I still believe that the death 7 penalty fits into our basic common-law 8 principles, our laws under our United States 9 Constitution, because we are a society that's 10 based on proportional justice. And I 11 certainly believe that in this case, the death 12 penalty cries out for certain types of 13 criminals, people who commit very heinous 14 crimes. 15 I think it's also worth bringing up 16 that the death penalty statute which was 17 passed, as I said earlier, in 1995, really, I 18 think, provided a tremendous number of 19 safeguards to make sure that someone wasn't 20 wrongly executed. There's two juries. A 21 fresh jury actually weighs whether or not that 22 individual should get life in prison without 23 parole or the death penalty. There's adequate 24 representation through a separate office. 25 So I really believe that it was a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 law that, I think, probably really passed 2 constitutional muster more than any other 3 death penalty statute across the state. 4 What I think is worth mentioning 5 today -- and a lot of my colleagues I think 6 spoke on this in other ways -- I think what 7 we're doing today is very important and I 8 think it makes for good government. And what 9 we're doing is we're debating a very, very 10 important piece of legislation, a piece of 11 legislation that people feel very strongly one 12 way or the other. 13 I wish I can say the same about my 14 former house in the Assembly, which 15 unfortunately doesn't think it's important 16 enough to put a bill like this on the floor 17 for debate. I'm not going to say that it's 18 just the Assembly, because I know my colleague 19 Tom Duane -- he's not here. But I think what 20 he's been doing each and every day is just as 21 important. He's raising an issue known as 22 Timothy's Law, which is an issue that 23 unfortunately here hasn't seen the light of 24 day. 25 I think what's happening here is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 our dysfunctioning government in Albany -- and 2 I think the Senate and the Assembly both 3 deserve some blame -- prevents us from doing 4 some very important legislation. Timothy's 5 Law. Here we are again without a death 6 penalty in New York State, which I think is 7 important and many feel is important. And 8 even those who don't feel it's important 9 should have that opportunity to vote no. 10 The other issue that I've talked 11 about on this floor many times this year is 12 eliminating our five-year statutory limitation 13 on rape. We did pass a law here -- or a bill, 14 I should say, in the State Senate. The 15 Assembly passed something different. I think 16 it's incumbent upon us now to work something 17 out and not leave this legislative session 18 without eliminating the five-year statutory 19 limitation. 20 Civil confinement. Again, we 21 passed a bill, the Assembly passed a bill. 22 Once again, we're going to leave here without 23 taking care of some very, very important 24 matters. 25 So I think today is a good thing.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 And I think we should have much more debate, 2 and I think both houses should follow that 3 lead, where all bills of importance, 4 especially of something as important as the 5 death penalty, should be debated and should be 6 voted on by both houses of the Legislature. 7 I vote yes, Madam President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 9 you, Senator Klein. 10 Senator Ada Smith. 11 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 12 Madam President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. Senator Smith, on the bill. 15 SENATOR ADA SMITH: I rise to 16 speak in opposition to the restoration of the 17 death penalty in the State of New York. 18 While I have concerns about the 19 unfair administration of the death penalty -- 20 the racial and geographic disparities in its 21 imposition, among others -- today I rise to 22 discuss the application of capital punishment 23 upon the mentally ill. In 2002 the U.S. 24 Supreme Court Issued a landmark ruling ending 25 the execution of those with mental

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 retardation. In Atkins v. Virginia, the court 2 held that it is a violation of the Eighth 3 Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual 4 punishment to execute death row inmates with 5 mental retardation. That decision reflects 6 the national consensus regarding this issue. 7 As we debate restoring the death 8 penalty in our own state, I ask you to keep in 9 mind that there is nothing in New York's death 10 penalty statute that would bar the execution 11 of someone who is seriously mentally ill. 12 New York juries have rendered guilty verdicts 13 against obviously mentally ill defendants, 14 often resulting in long prison sentences 15 instead of treatment in a secure mental health 16 facility. 17 The adversarial nature of the legal 18 system assumes -- indeed, it requires -- 19 rational self-interest on the defendant's 20 part, an assumption that may go out of the 21 window when the defendant is mentally ill. 22 Although people with severe mental illness may 23 have less culpability for behavior rooted in 24 uncontrollable delusions, they are far more 25 likely to give false confessions, to be unable

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 to cooperate with defense attorneys, and to 2 mistake their self-interest when making 3 crucial decisions, both before and during 4 trial. 5 Yet there are no special provisions 6 in New York's death penalty law designed to 7 protect the mentally ill. In other death 8 penalty states, people with severe mental 9 illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar 10 disorder are regularly put to death under laws 11 very similar to the law proposed in New York 12 State. 13 There are many reasons to oppose 14 the death penalty, but laws that allow the 15 execution of the mentally ill -- this bill 16 will, if restored today -- these laws are just 17 simply cruel. If we do plan to restore the 18 death penalty in this state, I urge my 19 colleagues to consider enacting a blanket 20 prohibition on the execution of mentally ill. 21 We cannot forget that when we talk 22 of death-eligible crimes, we are talking about 23 very serious crimes. Nor can we overlook the 24 suffering of the victim and his or her family. 25 The execution of a seriously

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 mentally ill individual runs contrary to the 2 spirit of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. 3 Constitution with its prohibition against 4 cruel and unusual punishment, to international 5 law, and to all evolving standards of decency. 6 But I ask you to consider one final 7 thought as you prepare to cast your vote on 8 this important issue. What purpose does 9 executing a sick person have? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you, Senator Smith. 12 Senator Connor. 13 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam 14 President. 15 I rise in opposition to this bill 16 and will cast my vote in opposition to it. 17 Did a little calculation; I am the 18 member in this body who has spoken against and 19 voted against the death penalty more than any 20 other, with one exception, and that is our 21 esteemed colleague Senator Marchi. 22 You know, the history of the death 23 penalty in New York, it kind of -- I listened 24 to some members who haven't been in the 25 Legislature quite so long as others of us, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 they talk about the death penalty as if it all 2 started in 1995. 3 The fact is this Legislature 4 repealed the death penalty in 1965, and the 5 Legislature I believe in '73 or '74 put it 6 back on the books. So there's been a death 7 penalty on the law books -- not this bill, not 8 this law -- since 1974, but that law was 9 declared unconstitutional. 10 So whatever the technical points 11 that my good colleague Senator Balboni was 12 making, I don't get them, frankly. All those 13 death penalty debates in the '70s and '80s 14 until 1995 were about a death penalty bill 15 when there was already one on the books but it 16 was unenforceable. Now we have one on the 17 books that's also unenforceable. It's 18 constitutionally infirm and unenforceable. 19 It was adopted in 1995. At the 20 time, I was the only legislative leader who 21 voted against it. Yet the Governor, in doing 22 that bill, in drafting it, had all four 23 legislative leaders participating with their 24 counsels. Everyone from -- all the counsels, 25 from the Governor's counsel to mine to the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Speaker's, were actually personally opposed to 2 the death penalty, but professionally they 3 drafted the best bill they could -- with one 4 exception, this provision that was found to be 5 unconstitutional. 6 So this debate is about the death 7 penalty. If you think New York ought to have 8 a death penalty, you're for this bill. And if 9 you think New York shouldn't have a death 10 penalty, you're against this bill. And 11 there's no way to parse it and say, oh, it's 12 only a little technical amendment. 13 Now, various -- I've heard about 14 every argument for or against the death 15 penalty over the years that you can imagine, 16 that could be imagined, heard every statistic 17 thrown out from both sides that the absolute 18 ingenuity, creativity and never-ending search 19 for research can impose on academia. I've 20 seen studies that prove it is a deterrent, it 21 isn't a deterrent, it will save two-for-one in 22 lives or it will cost more lives because there 23 will be more murders after a death penalty. 24 I don't know that any of that is 25 relevant. What is relevant is, Madam

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 President, we have a judicial system that's 2 human, that's administered by humans. It's 3 far from perfect. It may be the best system 4 on earth -- probably is -- but it is far from 5 infallible. 6 We also have a system that's based 7 on everyone's right to counsel. But, you 8 know, there are counsels and then there are 9 counsel. There are the appointed counsel that 10 get whatever they get now -- I don't know, 11 $80, $90 an hour, maybe a hundred and some 12 dollars in a capital case -- and then there 13 are the kind that wealthy people can afford 14 that get $800, $900 an hour. There is a 15 difference, I suspect. I know there is a 16 difference, I should say, and the difference 17 isn't just in the billing rates. 18 As I said once in a death penalty 19 debate, show me the millionaires, show me the 20 millionaires that have ever gone to the chair. 21 Now, I know there aren't that many 22 millionaires that committed murder, but there 23 have been some. And you know what? They 24 don't get the death penalty. 25 The people who get the death

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 penalty are the bottom end of the rung. It 2 has always been true. I grew up in a 3 household -- thankfully, my grandfather 4 actually lived to 105 and really only passed 5 away about 10 years ago. He was born in 1890. 6 He was an Irish-American, his parents were 7 immigrants. He was the first one born here in 8 America, a year after his parents emigrated. 9 He was rather conservative about a 10 lot of things, and he wasn't so conservative 11 about other things. He all of his life was 12 against the death penalty. I asked him once 13 when I was a boy why, and he said: "Well, 14 when I was a kid, our people got the death 15 penalty. Before my family came here, they got 16 it for political reasons in Ireland, and after 17 they came here, well, I grew up in a tough 18 neighborhood, we were all poor kids, and I 19 knew a lot of guys who got in a lot of 20 trouble. And when they got in trouble, the 21 book was thrown at them. And if they happened 22 to kill someone, they got the death penalty." 23 Other people didn't. Leopold and 24 Loeb didn't go to the chair for their 25 calculated, heinous, brutal murder. They were

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 wealthy. 2 And not to refer to studies, I'd 3 rather refer to literature. Someone once 4 wrote an article, they got to review -- 5 there's a logbook in the death house in 6 New York State. They kept a log of who's 7 executed. And believe me, in the late 19th 8 century and early 20th century, a lot of 9 people got executed. 10 In fact, when I was a kid -- I grew 11 up in New Jersey -- I remember us saying, 12 "Wow, New York, they fry a lot of people." 13 New York was pretty liberal about imposing and 14 inflicting the death penalty, not just for 15 murder -- armed robbery, a lot of other crime. 16 And New York used it. 17 But if you -- this survey of the 18 logbook in the death house has this amazing, 19 amazing clusters of ethnicity in the names. 20 1870s and 1880s and in the 1890s, you know, a 21 lot of names that began with "O" and 22 apostrophe -- you know, O'Malley, O'Brien, 23 Murphy, whatever. 24 Then you got to the early parts 25 of -- or the turn of that century, 19th to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 20th, you started seeing a lot of vowels at 2 the end of names, a lot of Italian-Americans. 3 A lot of Jewish names. 4 And then as you progressed in that 5 century, if you can call it progress -- I 6 mean, I say "progress" in the sense that the 7 years went by -- you saw a lot of names that 8 sounded like Smith, Brown, first names like 9 Willy, whatever. Clearly it started to be -- 10 we were executing more and more 11 African-Americans. 12 And then, you know, when you get 13 into the '40s and '50s, you started seeing a 14 lot of Latino names. 15 It is an accident that there were 16 these clusters? No. Who was on the bottom of 17 the heap, who were the poor people struggling, 18 who were the people in poverty? And, yes, 19 most likely to commit crimes, but not the only 20 people who were committing crimes. Certainly 21 not the only people committing murders. They 22 were just the ones who were getting the chair, 23 because they were the ones who couldn't afford 24 the $800 -- in those days, $100-an-hour 25 lawyers. They couldn't afford the fancy

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 defenses and the appeals and whatever. 2 Society was more ready to inflict the penalty 3 on them just because they were at the bottom 4 of the heap. 5 That's a fact, Madam President. 6 The death penalty has always had an inherent 7 bias in it against the poor. And our criminal 8 justice system has that bias. It's the nature 9 of it. If you can't afford the best lawyers, 10 you're going to pay the strongest penalties. 11 You're not going to get the breaks the system 12 seems to afford those who can afford a lawyer. 13 So the death penalty has those 14 problems. Now, you know, now we're in the age 15 of DNA. And some of my colleagues will say 16 these DNA studies have shown people on death 17 row were innocent. And Senator Volker will 18 say, Well, no, no, no, not all of them were 19 innocent. You know? They weren't innocent, 20 they did something or whatever. 21 Madam President, maybe things have 22 changed since I went to law school. Since 23 when is it about whether you're guilty or 24 innocent? Madam President, I know Senator 25 Volker knows this. The issue is whether

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 you're guilty or not guilty. And you're 2 guilty if you're proven guilty beyond a 3 reasonable doubt. 4 And what these DNA instances -- and 5 there are dozens of them -- have proved, that 6 there were people on death row who were not 7 guilty. Doesn't mean they're innocent, 8 doesn't mean they're pure as the driven snow, 9 it just meant they were not convicted beyond a 10 reasonable doubt of why they were on death 11 row. 12 And, Madam President, I hope in all 13 this debate we go back to that fundamental. 14 You have to be guilty. And the fear -- yes, 15 the fear is that someone who is innocent will 16 be executed. But the greater fear is that 17 someone will be executed who was actually not 18 guilty; i.e., his or her guilt was not proven 19 beyond a reasonable doubt, it was based on 20 flawed evidence or other evidence that wasn't 21 available, such as DNA evidence, which proves 22 that they were not guilty as convicted. 23 So that fallibility in the system 24 is very, very disturbing. But let's talk 25 about politics here. What political problem

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 are we addressing? Why did the Legislature 2 repeal the death penalty in the mid-'60s, 3 reimpose it in the mid-'70s, and, when it was 4 thrown out, not get the political will and 5 force together to reenact it until 1995? 6 People were reacting to crime rates. 7 Now, proponents of the death 8 penalty will say, Aha, crime has gone down, 9 murders have gone down since we enacted the 10 death penalty in 1995. But no one's been 11 executed. No one's come close to being 12 executed. I fail to see the great deterrent 13 value in that. 14 Murders are down. That's 15 wonderful. So is auto theft. So is almost 16 every category of crime, except there may be 17 some evidence now that rape has increased, but 18 you always have the frequency of reporting of 19 that have crime, a different problem, that 20 makes those statistics open to question. 21 But all crime is down. Why? 22 Better policing. Yes, strong sentences that 23 we started passing. We started passing longer 24 and longer sentences in this Legislature when 25 Mel Miller was the Speaker, when studies came

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 out that showed recidivism was occurring. 2 Look, most crime is committed by 3 young males; that's the statistic. And that 4 recidivism went down greatly after like age 5 40. Criminals just age out. They can -- if 6 they get out after age 40, they don't commit a 7 crime again. They get out at age 28, they 8 tend to be back in jail. 9 Those longer sentences had the 10 effect of keeping criminals -- armed robbers, 11 et cetera -- in jail longer until they aged 12 out of that population most likely to commit 13 crimes. 14 We did that. We did that back in 15 the mid-'80s. We passed those sentences, and 16 they have had an effect of taking repeat 17 offenders out of the population while they are 18 in that demographic that commits crime. 19 The other thing is if you look at 20 population trends, the census, the census from 21 1980 and 1990 proves something. There was a 22 huge dip in the population, in the percentage 23 of the population that consisted of young 24 males. Back in the early '80s, it was of 25 young boys. But -- so projecting, there were

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 going to be less 16-to-35-year-old males in 2 the population for the last 15 years. 3 And then there was better policing, 4 more sophisticated policing that contributed 5 tremendously to that drop in crime. 6 Does anybody think that contract 7 killings are down because there was a death 8 penalty on the books? Yet that's the most 9 calculated, heinous, brutal, cold-blooded kind 10 of killing there is. Those people don't think 11 they'll get caught. The real premeditated 12 murderers, they don't believe they're going to 13 get caught. How could you premeditate a 14 murder if you ever thought you'd get caught? 15 You think they want to spend life in prison 16 any more than they want to get executed? I 17 don't think so. So I really have always 18 seriously doubted the deterrence. 19 Concepts of justice, retribution, 20 that's one argument that grabs me sometimes. 21 I can't say that it's fundamentally unfair to 22 take the life of someone who took a life in a 23 calculated, deliberate way. 24 But I can say that for the state to 25 do that, to take that very life in a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 calculated, deliberate way, just as that 2 person did to the victim, is unworthy of a 3 civilized society. It demeans our civility. 4 It demeans our whole value for life. 5 And there are alternatives. You 6 know, this question that Senator Nozzolio 7 asked Senator Krueger, how are you going to 8 protect correction officers? 9 Well, how do we protect correction 10 officers on death row when they have a 11 population there of people with nothing to 12 lose, nothing to lose if they kill a 13 correction officer? They're not looking for 14 life without parole. They're in there to be 15 put to death. What have they got to lose? 16 Yet we manage, with technology and modern 17 prison methods, to protect those correction 18 officers. You do the same thing for the 19 life-without-parolees. It's very simple. 20 The bottom line, Madam President, 21 is I'm against the death penalty. I think we 22 can do better. And I think the fact that it's 23 now here just reflects a preoccupation with -- 24 the death penalty in New York is yesterday's 25 issue. It's George Pataki's 1994 issue in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 response to a 1985 problem using an 1885 2 penalty. Why in 2006 we are making this an 3 issue is beyond me. 4 Madam President, I'm against it. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 6 you, Senator Connor. 7 Senator Diaz. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 9 President. It has been said by many -- or 10 some of the speakers that this debate today is 11 a waste of time and that we are only killing 12 time. But this is a good debate, and this 13 debate is giving an opportunity to see things. 14 Like, for example, there are people 15 that passionately and deeply, emotionally 16 defend the death penalty. And they fight and 17 they push and they will put in, any which way, 18 the death penalty. They don't care about 19 people dying. Those same people passionately 20 emotionally defend the unborn babies. So they 21 are pushing for a death penalty to take away 22 life, and they fight against taking the life 23 of an unborn baby. 24 On the other side, there are people 25 that fight emotionally against the death

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 penalty because thou shalt not kill. And they 2 don't want the death penalty because it's 3 immoral, because whatever reason. But those 4 same people fight emotionally to kill unborn 5 babies. Even they fight to kill babies in 6 something called late-term abortion. Meaning 7 that you take the baby out half, you could 8 examine the baby, and if you don't like the 9 baby you kill it. 10 So there we are. People fighting 11 against the penalty because thou shalt not 12 kill and it is immoral, but they are fighting 13 to kill unborn babies even in the late-term 14 abortion. 15 And there are those again that 16 would like to protect those babies and will 17 fight tooth and nail to protect the unborn 18 babies because thou shall shalt not kill; they 19 will fight to kill human beings with the death 20 penalty. 21 And there are others, there's a 22 third kind. The third kind, those that fight 23 to kill babies and fight for the death 24 penalty. 25 And the fourth kind is like --

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 those like me. That is the fourth kind, those 2 like me, that deeply respect life in all 3 shapes and forms and don't believe that one 4 life is worth more than the other. Those who, 5 like me, believe that life is precious and 6 sacred, no matter unborn babies, late-term 7 abortion, half born, or a criminal. 8 So, ladies and gentlemen, my 9 question to myself, to my inner me: How can 10 you fight against the death penalty and then 11 fight to kill unborn babies by the thousands 12 and thousands and thousands? And how can you 13 fight to defend the unborn babies because thou 14 shalt not kill, but you want the death 15 penalty? 16 Go figure. I don't know. Either 17 you -- either death is immoral or it is not. 18 Either you kill babies and you kill people or 19 you don't kill anybody. Either all life are 20 precious and sacred or not. But don't come 21 here trying to be the last Coke in the desert 22 defending and opposing the death penalty and 23 then go out there and kill all the babies. 24 Kill all the babies, all the babies, 9 months 25 old, even when they come out halfway,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 late-term abortion -- kill them, it's not 2 life. Yes, they are life too. 3 And don't come here fighting for to 4 defend the babies and push the death penalty, 5 or pushing the death penalty and defending the 6 babies. It doesn't make sense. It does not 7 make sense. Either you are the third 8 category, the one that kills babies and wants 9 the death penalty, or the fourth category, 10 like me, kill no one. Life is sacred. Life, 11 everybody is the same -- bodegueros, police 12 officers, children, battered women, senior 13 citizens, teachers, anybody. All life are 14 equal. They are equal. They're all worth the 15 same. Thou shalt not kill. That means no 16 killing. 17 Thank you, Madam President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you, Senator Diaz. 20 Are there any other Senators 21 wishing to be heard? 22 The debate is closed. 23 The Secretary will ring the bell. 24 Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 just to inform the members. 2 We haven't read the last section 3 yet on this bill, but once we complete the 4 roll call, Senator Young's bill will be 5 brought up. I believe Senator Duane wanted to 6 cast a negative vote. So if you could stay in 7 the chamber, that will happen quickly. 8 Then there's going to be a Rules 9 meeting in which one bill will be brought up 10 for a vote when we come out of Rules. 11 So thank you. If we could read the 12 last section. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 22 Volker, to explain your vote. 23 SENATOR VOLKER: Thank you, Madam 24 President. Because of the time here, I 25 decided not to sum up. Let me just make a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 couple of comments. 2 First of all, as far as we know, no 3 seriously mentally ill person has ever been 4 executed in this state. There's all kinds of 5 protections in this bill. The anti-death 6 penalty people desperately wanted us to put a 7 provision in that said no mentally ill people 8 could be executed. That would probably finish 9 the whole system, because defense attorneys 10 would pile on and say, well, anybody that 11 kills is mentally ill. 12 As far as race is concerned, we've 13 done studies of New York's system and pretty 14 well everyone has said that the New York 15 system has been extremely good on the issue of 16 race. No person has ever been executed in 17 this state where he or she has ever been found 18 by any definitive nature to be not guilty. 19 And I mean to not have committed the crime. 20 Third, let me tell you, Senator 21 Connor, being Irish myself, that my 22 grandfather came over late in the 1800s. He 23 would tell you why so many Irishmen were 24 executed. They were very tough people. And 25 they were fighting each other. And I don't

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 know if you've ever seen "The Gangs of 2 New York," but the reason there were 3 executions -- and some of them were cops, by 4 the way. There were some really bad Irish 5 cops at that time. 6 The next group was the Italians. 7 And that's true. You know, they weren't just 8 poor, a lot of them were wealthy, by the way, 9 and did very well. 10 And by the way, Julius and Ethel 11 Rosenberg. You talk about millionaires? They 12 were executed. I just want you to remember 13 that. 14 You know, most of the anti-death 15 penalty people will tell you we have more 16 protections in this bill than any bill in the 17 country. Massachusetts, that doesn't have a 18 death penalty statute, claims they've got a 19 lot of protections. Well, they'd better look 20 at this bill if they're ever going to restore 21 it. But they don't have the guts to do it. 22 They'll never restore it in Massachusetts as 23 long as the Kennedys are around. 24 I vote aye. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 you. 2 Senator Connor, to explain his 3 vote. 4 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you. 5 Thank you, Madam President. Thank you. 6 Gee. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, 7 they weren't rich. They lived in my -- what's 8 now my district, Knickerbocker Village, which 9 was one of the first subsidized housings in 10 New York State. I mean, yes, they were 11 Jewish, but they weren't rich. And the fact 12 is, someone very close to me actually has -- 13 is a cousin of Ethel Rosenberg. Was. 14 So, I mean, they weren't 15 millionaires who were executed. And, I mean, 16 who wants to get into that case? That was the 17 ultimate political case of the last century. 18 The fact of the matter is that it 19 is the poor people. All those people were 20 tough. Yes, they were tough. They were tough 21 immigrants. The streets are tough. The 22 street of the ghettos are always tough. It's 23 dog eat dog, and a lot of crime is committed. 24 But the people who dwell in those ghettos, 25 whenever they were and whoever inhabited them

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 at the time, yes, they were tough, but they 2 were poor. That's why they were there. And 3 they disproportionately paid the ultimate 4 penalty for their heinous crimes because they 5 were poor. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. Senator Connor will be recorded in the 8 negative. 9 Senator Schneiderman, to explain 10 your vote. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 12 Madam President. Very briefly. 13 Again, I concur with many of my 14 colleagues who said this has been a good 15 debate. It would be a better debate if we 16 would go forward -- and Senator Volker raised 17 this earlier -- and conduct some hearings and 18 get the facts on the table. 19 The truth of the matter is we're 20 hearing a lot of assertions and as to whether 21 or not they're true, I think we have only 22 faith and hope to back them up. It's time 23 again to seriously revisit this issue. But I 24 would urge Senator Volker that if he thinks 25 New York State has all these protections and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 that racism is over in the State of New York, 2 that he take a look at the report of the Bar 3 Association of the City of New York that I 4 referred to earlier. There are serious 5 questions about this. 6 And once again, after a Republican 7 governor in Massachusetts -- nothing to do 8 with the Kennedys -- appointed a commission to 9 look at their death penalty, they made 10 recommendations for 10 essential safeguards to 11 make sure no innocent person was executed. 12 Nine of those 10 are lacking in New York 13 State's current criminal law. 14 And finally, as far as the issue 15 that was raised by Senator Nozzolio in his 16 colloquy with Senator Krueger, I would commend 17 to you a monograph called "The Myth of Prison 18 Murder: Lifers and the Death Penalty," by 19 Equal Justice USA, which makes it clear that 20 after statistical analyses, 90 percent of 21 prison murders occur in jurisdictions that do 22 have the death penalty. 23 So there's a lot more for us to 24 discuss. I think a lot of good points have 25 been made. Let's have some hearings and get

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 the latest information on the table before we 2 move forward with this. 3 Thank you, Madam President. I'll 4 be voting no. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 6 you. Senator Schneiderman will recorded in 7 the negative. 8 Senator Diaz, to explain your vote. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 10 President. 11 As I said before, my only daughter 12 is a police officer, a sergeant in the City of 13 New York. I love my daughter. I love police 14 officers. I love correctional officers. I 15 love peace officers. And I also love unborn 16 babies. They have been killed, they have been 17 killed by dozens, thousands every year. 18 So I respect life in all shapes and 19 forms. I don't understand why those that want 20 to kill babies are opposing the death penalty 21 and those that are for the death penalty 22 oppose the killing of babies. It does not 23 make sense. 24 Life is sacred. I deeply respect 25 life. I do not believe in killing anyone. I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 believe that the life of my daughter, who is a 2 police officer, yeah, it's valued to me, and I 3 don't know what I'd do if she gets hurt. But 4 it doesn't -- it's not worth more than the 5 life of a child that has been killed by a 6 rapist or by a woman that has been killed by a 7 rapist. And it isn't worth more than the life 8 of a bodeguero that has been killed in the 9 bodega, in the grocery store. 10 So yes, it has worth to me, and I 11 love my daughter. But go and tell that to a 12 senior citizen or to the mother of a child 13 that has been raped and killed or to a woman 14 that has been battered and killed, their 15 family, go tell them that. So all life are 16 equal, all life are sacred, all life have the 17 same value. You don't kill one and not the 18 other. If you're going to kill, kill 19 everybody. There are people that would like 20 to kill everybody. 21 Me, I don't believe in killing. I 22 don't believe in the death penalty. I don't 23 believe in abortion. I believe that life is 24 sacred. God give it, God take it. I'm -- 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Diaz. Senator Diaz, excuse me -- 2 SENATOR DIAZ: I vote against the 3 bill. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 5 you. Your two minutes were up. 6 Senator Diaz will be recorded in 7 the negative. 8 And the Secretary will announce the 9 results. 10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 11 the negative on Calendar Number 455 are 12 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Coppola, 13 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 14 Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Montgomery, 15 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 16 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano, 17 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stavisky and Valesky. 18 Absent from voting: Senator C. 19 Kruger. 20 Ayes, 37. Nays, 23. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Skelos. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 25 if we could call up Senate Number 1045.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1045, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6276, an 5 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 14 Duane, to explain his vote. 15 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 I'm going to be voting against this 18 bill because it doesn't include domestic 19 partners in the list of people who could make 20 a statement on behalf of a victim. 21 And, you know, it's 2006. And it 22 says "spouse," the bill says "except where 23 such victim is deceased and survived by both a 24 spouse and a parent." And that it doesn't say 25 "domestic partner" is just -- I just -- you

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 know, it's 2006. Come on. Equal rights. 2 Spouse, domestic partner should be included. 3 So I would encourage my colleagues 4 to vote no on this, and then I hope that it 5 will come back to us and say "spouse" and 6 "domestic partner" both. 7 Thank you, Madam President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 9 you. Senator Duane will be recorded in the 10 negative. 11 Senator Young, to explain her vote. 12 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 13 President, to explain my vote. 14 I think it's very appropriate that 15 we're passing this legislation in the Senate 16 today, based on all the very healthy debate 17 that we just had on the death penalty and also 18 as it relates to penalties given to those who 19 would kill police officers. 20 This bill actually is based on an 21 actual case from 1997 when Patrolman Anthony 22 Sanchez was gunned down in New York City 23 during a robbery. And during the sentencing 24 portion of the trial, both his mother and his 25 wife wanted to give an impact statement and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 were unable to do so. So this would correct 2 that part of the law. 3 And it really only is right. I've 4 dealt with many victims' families over the 5 years since I was elected to the State 6 Legislature, and it should be the option, the 7 discretion of the court to allow more than one 8 family member to give their perspective, their 9 context. For example, a mother's context 10 would be very different than a spouse. And we 11 need to correct the law. We shouldn't have to 12 choose between family members. 13 Senator Maziarz talked about a case 14 that I worked on during the previous debate 15 with Penny's Law, when Penny Brown was killed 16 in 1999 on Mother's Day, she jogged. And the 17 juvenile who killed her was tried as an adult 18 but still got a juvenile sentence. And one 19 word kept coming to the family's mind all 20 throughout the trial, was that they felt like 21 they were helpless. They were helpless. 22 There wasn't much that they could do. 23 However, when it came to 24 sentencing, only one family member was able to 25 testify. And they chose Kaitlyn Brown, who

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 was 13 years old when her mother was killed. 2 She was 14 at the time of the trial. And one 3 of the things that she said was: "Sometimes I 4 still whisper the word 'mom' just so I can 5 hear it again." 6 Kaitlyn was able to give her 7 perspective, but Penny also left behind a 8 husband and two grieving parents. And they 9 say to me many times over they wish they could 10 have given their perspective during the 11 sentencing portion of the trial. 12 Victims need and deserve to have a 13 voice. This bill corrects that issue. 14 Appropriate sentences must be given for these 15 terrible crimes. I would urge my colleagues 16 to vote yes on this very important piece of 17 legislation. 18 Thank you, Madam President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you, Senator Young. You will be recorded in 21 the affirmative. 22 The Secretary will announce the 23 results. 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 25 3. Senators Andrews, Connor and Duane

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 recorded in the negative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 6 there will be an immediate meeting of the 7 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 8 Room. 9 And if we could return to the order 10 of motions and resolutions. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you. 13 There's an immediate meeting of the 14 Rules Committee in the Senate Conference Room. 15 Motions and resolutions. 16 Could we have it quiet while people 17 are leaving the chamber. 18 Senator Nozzolio. 19 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 20 Madam President. 21 I wish to call up my bill, Print 22 Number 503A, recalled from the Assembly, which 23 is now at the desk. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 25 Secretary will read.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1377, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 503A, 3 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 5 President, I move to reconsider the vote by 6 which the bill was passed and ask that the 7 bill be restored to the order of third 8 reading. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 10 the roll on reconsideration of the vote. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 14 President, I now move to recommit Senate Print 15 Number 503A, Calendar Number 1377, to the 16 Committee on Codes, with instructions to said 17 committee to strike the enacting clause. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: So 19 ordered. 20 Senator Fuschillo. 21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 22 President, on behalf of Senator Meier, on page 23 number 28 I offer the following amendments to 24 Calendar Number 737, Senate Print Number 7042, 25 and ask that said bill retain its place on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Third Reading Calendar. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 3 amendments are received, and the bill will 4 retain its place on the Third Reading 5 Calendar. 6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 7 President, amendments are offered to the 8 following Third Reading Calendar bills: 9 Sponsored by Senator Young, page 10 35, Calendar Number 877, Senate Print Number 11 6562A; 12 By Senator Maltese, page number 58, 13 Calendar Number 1301, Senate Print Number 14 7677; 15 By Senator LaValle, page number 68, 16 Calendar Number 1426, Senate Print Number 17 3113A; 18 By Senator Flanagan, page number 19 72, Calendar Number 1480, Senate Print Number 20 7621; 21 By Senator LaValle, page number 74, 22 Calendar Number 1503, Senate Print Number 23 7690; 24 By Senator Farley, page number 58, 25 Calendar Number 1291, Senate Print Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 7764; 2 By Senator Balboni, page number 37, 3 Calendar Number 923, Senate Print Number 7681; 4 By Senator LaValle, page number 6, 5 Calendar Number 172, Senate Print Number 6 1092B; 7 By Senator Young, page number 27, 8 Calendar Number 708, Senate Print Number 7053; 9 By Senator Morahan, page number 53, 10 Calendar Number 1226, Senate Print Number 11 4103. 12 I now move that these bills retain 13 their place on the order of third reading. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 15 you. The amendments are received, and the 16 bills will retain their place on the Third 17 Reading Calendar. 18 Senator Bonacic. 19 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 20 Madam President. 21 On behalf of Senator Balboni, I 22 wish to call up Bill Number 7358A, having 23 passed both houses and not delivered to the 24 Governor. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 you. 2 The Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 863, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7358A, 5 an act to amend the Eminent Domain Procedure 6 Law. 7 SENATOR BONACIC: Madam 8 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 9 by which this bill was passed and ask that the 10 bill be restored to the order of third 11 reading. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 13 Secretary will call the roll for 14 reconsideration of the vote. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 17 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 18 Madam President. I now offer up the following 19 amendments. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 21 amendments are received. 22 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you. 23 I have another bill, Madam 24 President. I wish to call up, again on behalf 25 of Senator Balboni, Bill Print Number 7266,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 2 the desk. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 982, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7266, an 7 act to authorize. 8 SENATOR BONACIC: I now move to 9 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 10 passed. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 12 Secretary will call the roll on 13 reconsideration of the vote. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: Madam 17 President, I now offer the following 18 amendments. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 20 amendments are received. 21 SENATOR BONACIC: And last but 22 not least, on behalf of Senator Larkin, I wish 23 to call up Print Number 3243, recalled from 24 the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1569, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 3243, an 4 act to amend the Education Law. 5 SENATOR BONACIC: I now move to 6 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 7 passed. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 9 Secretary will call the roll on 10 reconsideration of the vote. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 SENATOR BONACIC: Madam 14 President, I now offer the following 15 amendments. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 17 amendments are received. 18 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 20 Morahan. 21 SENATOR MORAHAN: Yes, Madam 22 President. The remaining bills on the active 23 list that were laid aside will be laid aside 24 for the day. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Those

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 bills are laid aside for the day. 2 SENATOR MORAHAN: We're just 3 waiting for the Rules report, and then we'll 4 do a noncontroversial calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 6 you. 7 Senator Morahan. 8 SENATOR MORAHAN: Yes, Madam 9 President. Could we please return to reports 10 of standing committees. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Reports 12 of standing committees. 13 The Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 15 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 16 following bills: 17 Senate Print 207, by Senator 18 Maziarz, an act to amend the Mental Hygiene 19 Law; 20 321, by Senator Padavan, an act to 21 amend the County Law; 22 447A, by Senator Larkin, an act to 23 amend the Tax Law; 24 509, by Senator Nozzolio, an act to 25 repeal;

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 1773B, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 2 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 3 2205, by Senator Golden, an act to 4 amend the Penal Law and the Railroad Law; 5 3305A, by Senator Wright, an act to 6 amend the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law; 7 3329, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law; 9 3512A, by Senator Leibell, an act 10 authorizing; 11 3794B, by Senator Leibell, an act 12 to amend the Tax Law; 13 4464, by Senator Leibell, an act to 14 amend the Tax Law; 15 4564, by Senator Trunzo, an act in 16 relation to authorizing; 17 5030, by Senator Golden, an act to 18 amend the Penal Law and the Vehicle and 19 Traffic Law; 20 5114A, by Senator Spano, an act to 21 amend the Education Law; 22 5240A, by Senator Wright, an act to 23 amend the Public Service Law; 24 5768, by Senator Golden, an act to 25 amend the Penal Law;

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 5813A, by Senator Golden, an act to 2 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 3 6224A, by Senator Maziarz, an act 4 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 5 6402A, by Senator Balboni, an act 6 to amend the General Business Law; 7 6427A, by Senator Little, an act to 8 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 9 6597A, by Senator Morahan, an act 10 to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 11 6628, by Senator Spano, an act to 12 amend the Social Services Law; 13 6660, by Senator Oppenheimer, an 14 act to amend the Town Law; 15 6693B, by Senator Larkin, an act to 16 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 17 6694A, by Senator Larkin, an act to 18 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 19 6891A, by Senator Golden, an act to 20 amend the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law; 21 7641A, by Senator Meier, an act to 22 amend the Social Services Law; 23 7927, by Senator Golden, an act to 24 amend the Criminal Procedure Law and the 25 Executive Law;

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 7928, by Senator Golden, an act to 2 amend the Penal Law; 3 7936, by Senator Johnson, an act to 4 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 5 7962, by Senator Marchi, an act to 6 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 7 8011, by Senator Bonacic, an act 8 authorizing; 9 8044, by Senator Padavan, an act to 10 amend the Family Court Act; 11 8080, by Senator Spano, an act to 12 amend the Public Authorities Law; 13 8091, by Senator Maziarz, an act 14 establishing; 15 And Senate Print 8179, by Senator 16 Bruno, an act to amend the Social Services 17 Law. 18 All bills ordered direct to third 19 reading. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 21 Morahan. 22 SENATOR MORAHAN: I move that we 23 accept the report of the Rules Committee. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: All in 25 favor of accepting the report of the Rules

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Committee signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: 4 Opposing, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 7 report is accepted. 8 Senator Morahan. 9 SENATOR MORAHAN: Madam 10 President, if we could pick up 1699, by 11 Senator Bruno. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 16 Calendar Number 1699, Senator Bruno moves to 17 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 18 Assembly Bill Number 11809 and substitute it 19 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8179, 20 Third Reading Calendar 1699. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 22 substitution is ordered. 23 The Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1699, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Print Number 11809, an act to amend 2 the Social Services Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 12 bill is passed. 13 Senator Morahan. 14 SENATOR MORAHAN: I believe we 15 have another motion, Madam President, by 16 Senator Seward. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 18 you. 19 Senator Seward. 20 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes, Madam 21 President, on page 66 I offer the following 22 amendments to Calendar Number 1407, Senate 23 Print Number 6332A, and ask that the said bill 24 retain its place on the Third Reading 25 Calendar. I do this on behalf of Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Marchi. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. 4 The amendments are received, and 5 the bill will retain its place on the Third 6 Reading Calendar. 7 Senator Morahan. 8 SENATOR MORAHAN: Yes, Madam 9 President. There being no further business 10 before the Senate, I move that the Senate 11 adjourn until Wednesday, June 14th, at 12 11:00 a.m. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On 14 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 15 Wednesday, June 14th, at 11:00 a.m. 16 (Whereupon, at 5:07 p.m., the 17 Senate adjourned.) 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910