Let’s Fight For and Stand With Our Crime Victims

Democrats in Albany, who now control every aspect of our state government, continue to redefine “justice,” and that new definition doesn’t include victims like Dale Driscoll.

Sadly, justice in the eyes of Democrats means a new cashless bail system that lets most criminals walk free and discovery reform that puts victims and witnesses at risk once personal information is shared with defendants.

To Democrats, it also means applauding the paroles of cop killers, who should have spent the rest of their lives in prison.

Dale knows too intimately that parolees with violent histories could be dangerous.

Back in 2009, John Brown, two weeks shy of completing his parole, stormed into her daughter Helen’s Geneva apartment and violently stabbed her to death with a box cutter. Dale’s 12-year-old granddaughter Brittany desperately tried to save her mother, but the cold-blooded Brown killed her too.

The anguish of a mother and grandmother never dulls. Let Democrats reflect on that.

Even on the heels of the so-called reforms made in March to the justice system, which read like a Criminals’ Bill of Rights, members of the New York State Senate Majority want more leniency for criminals in terms of parole.

Take for example, radical left-wing domestic terrorist Judith Clark, who in 1981 robbed a Brinks armored car. Her actions resulted in the deaths of two police officers and a security guard.

A Senate Democrat is now advocating for parole hearings, every two years, once an inmate has served 15 years and turns 55.

“There are so many more Judith Clarks out there,” said the bill’s sponsor said.

This legislation, if enacted into law, could mean an early out for notorious serial killer the Son of Sam and, here in Geneva, for the man who took the lives of Helen and Brittany, two women who will never have a 55th birthday.

Helen never knew that Brown’s violent history included throwing his 7-week-old daughter against a wall and an additional parole violation that put him back in prison.

As part of the Senate Republican Conference’s efforts to rebalance the scales of justice, my colleagues and I unveiled the Victims’ Justice Agenda, an 11-bill package to reform the parole system and enhance public safety.

My legislation, Brittany’s Law, is one way we can provide public safety and protect women from abuse. It creates a registry for violent felons, similar to the mandatory sex offender registry, allowing the public to search for repeat violent offenders. Under Republican leadership, it consistently passed the Senate.

I also sponsor Clara’s Law, named after the late Clara Mae Bowman, who was raped while in an intensive care unit. Her abuser left the hospital amid allegations for a job at another facility, where he ultimately abused another patient. This legislation would require a facility to report allegations of abuse to other health care facilities.

This state cannot continue to tip the scales of justice in favor of criminals over law-abiding citizens. I will continue the fight with Dale and with every victim who might feel voiceless as Democrats try to chip away at what justice really means.