Skip to content
S3645Senate2011-2012 Session

Enacts "Brittany's Law" requiring registration of violent felony offenders

Status
In Assembly Committee
Correction
Impact
Pending
Passage
Pending

Bill progress

Step 5 of 7

In Assembly · Correction

What's happening

Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.

Why it matters

The daily · weekday mornings

Albany, before your first meeting.

Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.

Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.

Who cares

Headline styles

Sponsors

History

  1. Referred to correction
  2. Delivered to assembly
  3. Passed senateVote 54–5
  4. Ordered to third reading cal.1350
  5. Committee discharged and committed to rules
  6. Print number 3645d
  7. Amend and recommit to finance
  8. Reported and committed to finance
  9. Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
  10. Returned to senate
  11. Died in assembly
  12. Referred to correction
Show 12 earlier actions
  1. Delivered to assembly
  2. Passed senateVote 57–4
  3. Advanced to third reading
  4. 2nd report cal.
  5. Amended 3645c
  6. 1st report cal.583
  7. Print number 3645b
  8. Amend and recommit to finance
  9. Reported and committed to finance
  10. Print number 3645a
  11. Amend (t) and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
  12. Referred to crime victims, crime and correction

Full text

The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.

Sponsor's memo

BILL NUMBER:S3645D

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to enacting "Brittany's Law"

Purpose

To establish a violent felony offender registry.

Summary of provisions

Amends the correction law to require violent felony offenders as defined in §70.02 of the penal law, to register with DCJS upon discharge, parole or release from any state or local facility, hospital or institution and to allow dissemination of and access to certain information to the general public. Annual registration requirements and corresponding procedural guidelines are established to allow local law enforcement agencies and the state to monitor the whereabouts of violent felony offenders.

Justification

Many other states have some form of a violent felony offender registry. Unfortunately, New York is not among those progressive states that have taken constructive steps to track the whereabouts of violent felony offenders who, as research indicates, are likely to repeat violent crimes upon release from prison. Protecting the public from violent offenders is a primary governmental interest and the registration of convicted felony offenders reentering the community is a control that helps protect individuals from victimization. This bill, with provisions based on the "Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Act", represents a balanced and comprehensive approach to this effort.

A man charged in a brutal attack of a victim in Massena, New York, was out on parole and had a lengthy history of arrests including assault with a hammer. John Edward Brown, a parolee, was released from prison after serving only 2 1/2 years of a 3 year sentence for violently assaulting his infant daughter in 2003. He murdered Helen Buchel and her daughter Brittany Passalacqua in Geneva in 2009. These are just two examples of how the early parole of a dangerous criminal has led to tragedy.

In the wake of these and other violent attacks, it has become clear that we must increase our efforts to further protect our citizenry. This proposal will not only provide law enforcement with a valuable investigative tool in the fight against violent crime, but it also provides important information to communities since violent felony offenders post a high risk of reoffending once released from custody.

Legislative history

2011 - Passed Senate; Held in Correction Committee in Assembly.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

180 days after it shall have become a law.

Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.