Legislative Program
The Child Protection Act of 2010
The Child Protection Act of 2010 establishes the class A-I felony of aggravated murder of a child; under this charge the sentence is life imprisonment without parole. Aggravated murder includes:
- Intentional killing of a person under 14 while in the course of committing rape, criminal sexual acts, aggravated sexual abuse or incest against such child.
- Depraved indifference or intentional killing of a person under 14 while being legally responsible for the care of such child.
The law also strengthens other parts of the state’s penal law, establishing the offenses of aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated abuse of a child in the first, second and third degrees, and aggravated endangering the welfare of a child. Additionally, the law:
- Defines a new class D violent felony of aggravated abuse of a child in the second degree and a new class C violent felony of aggravated abuse of a child in the first degree.
- Provide that a prosecution for aggravated murder of a child or aggravated manslaughter of a child cannot be terminated upon the consent of the parties.
- Provides that a child witness called to testify before the grand jury may be accompanied by a social worker, psychologist, or other professional to provide emotional support when giving testimony regarding a charge of aggravated murder of a child, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated abuse of a child in the first, second or third degree or aggravated endangering the welfare of a child.
- Provides that a person convicted of the new crimes of aggravated murder of a child, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated abuse of a child in the first, second or third degree or aggravated endangering the welfare of a child must give a DNA sample for inclusion in the DNA database.
- Renames the crime reckless assault of a child by a child day care provider to aggravated abuse of a child in the third degree. This E felony, which formerly only applied to day care providers, now would apply to a parent, guardian or person in a position of trust who recklessly causes physical injury to a child under age 14.
For more information visit http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S7705
Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt provided this comment on her Facebook page on August 30, 2010: The state would like prosecutors to start requiring defendants pleading guilty to misdemeanors to submit DNA samples as a way to expand the DNA database. Under current law in NYS we only collect DNA samples from 46% of all people convicted, virtually all felonies require DNA samples whereas only 35 misdemeanors do.
Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt provided this statistic on her Facebook page on July 19, 2010:
Leandra’s Law which went into effect 12/18/09 makes it a felony for a person to drive while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs when a child is in the car. So far to date there have been 248 arrests made in NYS for violating this new law that went into effect not even a year ago. What are people thinking?
NEW YORK PRESCRIPTION SAVER PROGRAM
The New York Prescription Saver Program to help those with limited incomes pay for prescription drugs was approved in March of 2009. To qualify, you must:
- Be between the ages of 50 and 64, or have been determined disabled by the Social Security Administration (SSA);
- Have an annual household income of no more than $35,000, if single, and an annual joint household income of $50,000, if married;
- NOT be on Medicaid; and Be a New York state resident.
If you or someone you know may qualify for this program, you may apply for the pharmacy discount card by visiting their website or by calling toll-free at 1-800-788-6917.
During the 2008 legislative session NYSFRW supported several bills that related to protecting our children from predators.
One of these bills, S1653A sponsored by Senator Dale Volker (District 59) has now been approved and was signed into law by the Governor on July 21, 2008. This bill amends the Executive Law, Section 837, by adding a new subdivision 18. It required the Division of Criminal Justice Services to produce an instructional video educating parents on how sexual predators lure children.
A familiar discussion with children is that they should never talk to strangers. Good advice, of course. However, sexual predators are lurking to trap children without them knowing and in many circumstances they are not strangers, but rather people they know and trust. We are shirking our responsibility as parents and caregivers if we simply tell children to be aware of predators, but we ourselves are not knowledgeable of just how predators lure their victims. Sexual predators are cunning and highly skilled at what they do. As parents and caregivers, it is our responsibility as well to learn how to keep children safe from such predators. Unfortunately, we may not have the information or education on how to accomplish this.
This legislation seeks to assist parents and caregivers by mandating the Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop a training video that will instruct parents on how sexual predators trap children into becoming their victim. This video will be distributed to all public libraries and police precincts for availability.
PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN
Linda M. Wagner
Katie’s Law
Katie’s Law is in response to the murder and rape of Katie Sepich, a 22 year old graduate student at New Mexico State University. She was raped, strangled and her body set on fire then abandoned at a dump site. DNA from her murderer was found under her fingernails, but there was no match in the system. After the perpetrator was arrested for having raped several other young women they found that he had a police record, but no DNA was on record. He was linked to Katie Sepich by the DNA samples from her fingernails.
The basic idea behind Katie’s Law is: "A person eighteen years of age or over who is arrested for the commission of a felony under the laws of this state or any other jurisdiction shall provide a DNA sample to jail or detention facility personnel upon booking."(New Mexico) This bill was passed by the New Mexico state legislature in only thirty days and was signed into law in March of 2006 and came into effect on January 1, 2007.
Since implementing a law to collect DNA upon arrest in the state of Virginia, the state has identified suspects in an additional 370 cold cases.
2003 63 arrestees matched to crimes
2004 68 arrestees matched to crimes
2005107 arrestees matched to crimes
2006 69 arrestees matched to crimes (Information taken from www.katieslaw.org )
In the State of Texas there is another law called Katie’s Law which deals with an entirely different situation. House Bill B84 and its companion Senate Bill 180 propose an Elderly Driver’s Test. This is in reference to the tragic death of another young woman – Katie Bolka.
Why should our state require DNA upon arrest?
• SOLVE COLD CASES
More than 41,000 investigations aided in the US throughout the national DNA database
• SAVE LIVES
Arrestee DNA testing can prevent crimes by providing early identification of serial offenders
• ABSOLVE THE INNOCENT
Guarantees equal access to DNA testing for all felony arrests and minimizes wrongful incarcerations
• MINIMIZE RACIAL BIAS
Forensic DNA databasing is blind to race and ensures accurate identification of suspects
Taken from www.katieslaw.org/whypass.html