by Joseph McArdle

Following a spate of pressure from Assembly Republicans, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced last month that the Assembly will debate and vote on "The Child Safety and Sexual Predator Punishment and Confinement Strategy," at the beginning of the 2006 legislative session, which began last week. According to Assemblyman Anthony Raia, it will most likely be one of the first issues the Assembly takes on.

The bill calls for the civil confinement of the most predatory and dangerous level-three sex offenders. It calls for the convicted sex offender who has served his or her jail sentence to face a jury which must decide if the offender is still a threat to society. If that decision is unanimous, the sexual predator will be confined in a facility operated by the State Office of Mental Health, State Office of Mental Retardation And Developmental Disabilities, or the State Department of Correctional Services, receiving additional mental health treatment. They will also be subject to a yearly court hearing, and will be released back into the public only after it has been determined that they will pose no further risk to society.

The Democratic majority in the Assembly have been hesitant about the minority-sponsored legislation, which is part of a large number of bills involving reforms on sex offender laws that Republicans have continually championed. The civil confinement bill is the first of these many bills on sex offender laws that Assembly Speaker Silver has promised to bring to the floor.

New York State Assemblyman Joseph Saladino (R-Massapequa) and other Republicans hope that this bill will be the first of a myriad of other sex offender reform bills that Republicans have been pushing for.

"While we have hundreds of bills that I have sponsored or supported, the most important one is civil confinement," said Saladino. "This is my highest priority, bar none."

Other bills in the Republican-sponsored legislation will strengthen different aspects of sex crime law, including prohibiting sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or school grounds; prohibiting offenders from taking up residence near their victims upon their release from prison, and allowing the state to track the most dangerous sexual offenders with electronic devices linked to a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite.

The legislation will also expand the information available about sex offenders on the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ web site, require law enforcement to release information on level two and three sex offenders to vulnerable populations, and keep records open for youthful offenders.

Over the past year, state Republicans have sent out press releases, held press conferences and called upon their Democratic counterparts in Albany to join them in enacting these laws. Despite that, most languished in committee in the Assembly until last month.

"Our good Senators have passed these bills time and time again and the governor has publicly stated he would sign them into law, but the Democratic members in the Assembly keep dragging their feet," said Saladino.

Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), was quick to point out that Democrats were in favor of the sweeping changes being presented, but have some reservations about the legislation as written by the Republicans.

"We have always advocated approaching the issue in a more comprehensive way," he said. "Civil confinement by itself does little. I think the package is absolutely the way to go."

Assemblymen from both parties were sure to point out that the civil confinement measures would only apply to a small number of sex offenders.

"We’re talking about the worst of the worst, the worst of the level three sex offenders," said Assemblyman Raia, who also stated that there were only 20-25 sex offenders identified in New York who would currently warrant civil confinement.

"The expectation from other states is that it only ends up affecting a very small percentage of sex offenders," said Sweeney.

Because mental health facilities will not be dealing with large numbers of sex offenders, the cost of the endeavor will be minimal, although all involved made it explicitly clear that cost is not a valid concern when attempting to protect women and children. Sex offenders will be kept in separate quarters in the mental health facilities, so as to prevent the possibly dangerous commingling with vulnerable mental health patients also being treated at the same facilities.

Silver was coerced into promising to bring the civil confinement bill to the floor (he has yet to make any such promise about other sex crime bills) thanks to a statewide petition drive initiated by the Republican Assembly members over the summer.

The Senate has already passed the bill and Senator Chuck Fuschillo (R-Freeport) reiterated the Senate’s support.

"These are individuals who should be kept from society until they have been mentally reviewed," he said.

"This is a disease that is incurable," added Raia. "When you civilly confine someone in a mental institution, you are giving them the help they need."

Assemblyman Saladino summed up the beliefs and ambitions he shares with his fellow party members. "I know in my heart that if we do not let up, the civil confinement bill will reach the floor of the assembly and be passed into law," he said.