Senator Dale M. Volker Passes Legislation To Stiffen Penalties For Persistent Violent Felons

(Albany, NY) Senator Dale M. Volker (R-I-C, Depew) today announced Senate passage of legislation (S.3256) that would stiffen the penalties against persistent violent felons in New York State and ensure that those who persistently prey against law-abiding New Yorkers. Legislation passed by the State Senate would change the current state law to subject persistent violent felons to a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, while maintaining life imprisonment as the maximum sentence.

"There is no reason why a persistent violent felony offender, who preys again and again on our residents, should only receive a slap on the wrist by our criminal justice system," said Senator Dale M. Volker. "It is time for these criminals to face responsibility for their devastating actions. By enacting this legislation we will allow law enforcement to keep persistent violent felony offenders behind bars, and address this shortcoming in our penal law."

Under current state penal law, a person convicted of a violent felony offense who has previously been convicted of two or more predicate violent felony offenses is defined as a persistent violent felony offender. A persistent violent felony offender must be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the maximum period of which may be life while the minimum period must be from 2 to 10 years depending upon the class of felony committed.

Senator Dale M. Volker’s legislation would change the law to subject persistent violent felons to a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, while maintaining life imprisonment as the maximum sentence. It also would strongly limit plea bargaining by persons charged with a violent felony offense where, upon conviction, they would be persistent violent felony offenders.

"With our state’s violent crime rates at historical record lows, we can complement our existing law enforcement activities and further reduce violent criminal behavior," stated Senator Volker. "Now is not the time to sit back and congratulate ourselves for doing a good job in reducing crime. We need to do even more and this legislation will give our criminal justice agencies to legal tools to keep these persistent violent felony offenders away from society, further reduce persistent criminal activity, and keep New York State as one of the safest states in the entire nation."

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