I totally agree with you guys/girls. But in this case about the new sex offender law, if this ends up being a legal battle...which I fear it may, Kosiur, Savage and the city wont have 'A STUDY TO STAND ON'!!!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Now that the Schenectady County Legislature has voted its pedophiles to be off limits to living nearly anywhere in the county — or, so to speak, voted for a leper colony — I suppose they feel they have done society a big favor. Hooray, you may say. But if so, I say, let’s make Schenectady County all the better by doing the same with anyone convicted of a felony. Let’s add the drunken driver convictions too, because you and I know there are repeat offenders having additional DWI accidents involving children. While we are stepping all over the Constitution and creating our own Alcatraz, perhaps the county Legislature could site a new landfill there. Nobody wants that in their back yard, either. Who cares about the rural righteous citizen? And, heaven forbid, let’s not forget that disgraced politician or convicted police officer, as well as anyone convicted of a crime in Hamilton Hill. I’d gladly like to see them all live 2,000 feet away from anyone else. Hey, how about 5,000 feet! Keep it up and Schenectady County might one day rival Mark Twain’s fictional Hadleyburg! The possibilities are endless once you stamp out the individual rights part of the Constitution. ANDREW KOPACH Rotterdam The writer is a Republican committeemen in Princetown.
SCHENECTADY COUNTY Niskayuna man admits touching child BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Cooperation between county and federal prosecutors led a former Niskayuna chef to admit he touched a young girl inappropriately while she slept last summer, authorities said. Already facing up to 30 years in prison for paying to have sex with a man’s underage daughters, Timothy A. Waddell is expected to plead guilty to the felony charge of first-degree sexual contact with a person under the age of 10. He was arraigned in Niskayuna Town Court Wednesday, but had already admitted to the charge in federal court last month, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina Jr. “As part of the plea agreement, I had him agree that he’d also plead guilty to the local charges as well,” Spina said. Waddell, who worked as a chef at a retirement community in Clifton Park, is expected to receive a seven-year sentence for the latest charge when he appears in County Court later this month. The prison term will run concurrently with the federal sentence, which is scheduled to be handed down in late September. Waddell paid an undercover agent $100 to arrange to have sex with a 10-year-old girl and 14-year-old girl he believed to be the man’s daughters in September 2006. Agents from the FBI’s Cyber Predator Task Force began tracking his actions after he placed an advertisement on Quest Personals, a telephone chat line. Waddell was arrested at an Albany County hotel after paying the agent and buying a DVD he believed contained child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Authorities also contend he intended to photograph his sexual activity with the young girls. In his possession, authorities found a digital camera, a new memory card, two packs of condoms, baby oil, “very small” lingerie and a teddy bear, among other items. Investigators later found child pornography on Waddell’s computer during a search of his home. When they searched his hard drive, authorities also discovered a dialogue he had with another person that detailed his encounter with a little girl while she slept between August and September 2006. Federal prosecutors confronted Waddell about the incident while he took a polygraph exam earlier in the year. The county was then alerted to the case, Spina said. Andra Ackerman, the chief of the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Bureau, said Waddell’s admission means the young girl won’t have to testify in the case. She said Spina’s help in eliciting a confession from the convicted man proved instrumental in a case that would have otherwise been difficult to prosecute. “We would have an extremely difficult time with a case like this one without their help,” she said Monday. “And it would be very traumatic on that family to have to put everyone through it.” Spina said he’s trying to coordinate with the 32 county prosecutors throughout the Northern New York District to produce broader cooperation. By combining resources and working together, the county and federal authorities can maximize their effectiveness in prosecuting such crimes, he said. “If we work together, we can do the most for the victims in these cases and punish offenders to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
SCHENECTADY Housing ban to require court action Sex offenders will face Oct. 1 deadline BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Sex offenders who refuse to move out of their homes in compliance with the new residency laws will get their day in court, County Attorney Christopher Gardner said. He made his comments after County Sheriff Harry Buffardi said his deputies could not evict sex offenders without a court order. Gardner responded by saying that sex offenders would not be technically evicted — they can keep any property they own and even continue to pay rent on an apartment, but they will not be allowed to sleep overnight at a residence within 2,000 feet of any day care center, park, school or other area in which children congregate. But even if offenders won’t be “evicted” when they are forced off their property, Gardner agreed with Buffardi that sex offenders cannot be removed without court action. Gardner also said he will wait until Oct. 1 before taking any reluctant movers to court. “We’re hoping to get people to move voluntarily,” he said. His office is putting together maps that detail precisely where sex offenders can live in the county. So far, he said, it appears that there are no legal locations to spend the night in Schenectady, Delanson and Scotia, and very few sites in Rotterdam, Niskayuna and east Glenville. That would push most sex offenders to Duanesburg and Princetown if they choose to stay in Schenectady County. However, County Legislator Edward Kosiur, D-Schenectady, who sponsored the law, said offenders would leave the county because there are few if any apartments for rent in the rural suburbs. Gardner said they would probably head far away. “In Iowa, we actually had an exodus of sex offenders to other states,” Gardner said, referring to the effects of a similar residency law that was enforced there. In August, workers will mail letters notifying every sex offender who lives within the exclusion zones. They will be told they must leave by Oct. 1. If they don’t, the county can seek a court order to make them leave. County sheriff’s deputies would enforce the order; local police departments would not be involved. That’s because sheriff’s deputies handle evictions and other civil matters. But this wouldn’t be a simple eviction, Buffardi said. “If you have one sex offender living on premises, the only one you have to evict is the sex offender,” he said. That means sheriff’s deputies may remove one person while leaving family members behind. Buffardi isn’t sure how to do that. “Normally, we separate the rental property owner and the tenant by locking the tenant out,” he said. His officers could change the locks, but they’d have to give a key to the evicted person’s family, raising the possibility that the sex offender could get back in as soon as deputies leave. Gardner acknowledged that problem, saying he wouldn’t be able to charge the offender with breaking the residency law until he could prove that the offender wasn’t just visiting the house. “You’d have to have some sort of level of proof. You’d have to stay overnight,” he said. Offenders who are forced to leave would also have to register a new address, discouraging them from simply returning to their former home, he added. Buffardi is also worried about potentially violent situations if his deputies have to evict a sex offender who owns a house in the city. “That could get pretty passionate,” he said. “I imagine there may be a lot of passion there. We do bank evictions but the difference there was the owner didn’t pay the mortgage or the taxes or something. Clearly this law is unprecedented.” The New York Civil Liberties Union considers that portion of the law more then unprecedented. It violates offenders’ constitutional rights, according to NYCLU Director Melanie Trimble. “We will challenge it in every way possible,” she said. “We don’t banish people anymore. The state already has comprehensive legislation dealing with the dangers of sex offenders re-offending after they have served their time.” Less than 2 percent of released offenders re-offend, she said. She is sending Gardner a list of reasons why the law is unconstitutional. “We don’t want to have to sue the county. Hopefully they will see reason,” she said. If not, the NYCLU will take the matter to court, she said.
I can't see this law surviving a court challenge and how can anyone force someone our of their own home when they haven't done anything. If the sex offender re offends at that time he should be sent back to jail, never to be let out again.
Very good point BK. I'm still somewhat dismayed at the fact that we have to even have to figure that out. But there are daycares everywhere. And I'm hoping that they are also considered under the new law.
They dont count the unregistered "friends/family" daycares.....just another way for the government to get into our pockets......and skim.....all based on fear.....and the "we make you work harder to pay more taxes,,therefore we will mandate protected daycare for your children,,,and we will work you to the bone"......who is our master you ask???????
So if your child has to go to a daycare--"is it registered?",,,"do they have a record?"(anyone that might go there that is friends or family of the operator),,,"are they insured?"...blah blah blah.....Dont ya just love NYS....the first state in the union to cause the loss of their liberty by fear mongering, narcistic leadership and greed........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
BY LAW...and last I knew this country was a land of the law.....if a convicted 'anything' puts their time in and pays their dues, they are legally allowed to return to society. Whether we agree or not...THAT IS THE LAW. They are FREE! If you think they are still a danger to society...than what the heck are they doing back out on the streets? Again, let me state, that I am clearly not a fan or am I defending sex offenders...but the law is the law is the law. I believe this will NEVER hold up in court! But what does Kosiur care...he's hoping to be elected on that exact platform before it hits the Appeals Court! He should be ashamed of himself and anyother idiot who supports it....REALLY!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The Court of Appeals, New York State's highest court, is composed of a Chief Judge and six Associate Judges, each appointed to a 14-year term. New York's highest appellate court was established to articulate statewide principles of law in the context of deciding particular lawsuits. The Court thus generally focuses on broad issues of law as distinguished from individual factual disputes. There is no jurisdictional limitation based upon the amount of money at stake in a case or the status or rank of the parties.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
About a year ago, former Gov. George Pataki signed a bill expanding Web site displays of the state's sex offender registry to Level II offenders.
Earlier this month, their names started showing up on the state's sex offender website, along with those at Level III, the highest-risk offenders, who had previously been listed.
Some 800 names were added July 10, according to John Caher, spokesman with the state Divisionof Criminal Justice Services.
The expect to add a couple of thousand more at some point, although some of the people may be entitled to a hearing, in the wake of a federal appeals court ruling, which in June cleared the way for the Web site expansion.
As of Monday, there were a total of 25,337 registered sex offenders in the state including 6,255 at Level III and 9,269 at Level II.
Carl Strock THE VIEW FROM HERE Farley’s new take on sex offender law Carl Strock can be reached at 395-3085 or by e-mail at carlstrock@dailygazette.com.
Schenectady County Legislator Bob Farley has second thoughts about the sex-offender residency restrictions he so passionately supported last month. Don’t ask me to explain, but it’s true. I bumped into him the other day at the Capitol, where he works, which was the first time I had seen him since I quoted his fiery oration before his fellow legislators last month, and he confided, in the course of chatting, “There are serious problems with this legislation.” He was referring to the law that requires among other things that everyone on the state Sex Offender Registry, regardless of the seriousness of the original offense, basically get out of town by Oct. 1 or face eviction. Or at least get out of the populated parts of the county. “Levels 1 and 2 should not be included,” he said, referring to the less serious levels of offense. As for forcing people to move out rather than just preventing new people from moving into restricted areas, “This legislation overreaches,” he said. He defended his vote for it by saying, “At the end of the day it’s all we had before us. We had to vote on it as a package.” This is the same Bob Farley who, at the June 12 meeting of the Legislature, declared that the law didn’t go far enough in keeping sex offenders 2,000 feet away from schools, playgrounds and so forth. “I’d like to see it 3,000 feet, maybe 4,000 feet! I don’t want them in our county!” he orated then, without any distinction as to Level 1, 2 or 3. He didn’t care about the low recidivism rate of sex offenders either. “If it’s your child it’s 100 percent,” he declaimed with great passion. Nor did he care about “managing” sex offenders through probation and counseling. “We shouldn’t be managing them, we should be stopping them!” he actually hollered. So don’t ask me to explain. But now, a month later, he believes the law is flawed to the point that it might have “constitutional problems.” He should have listened to me in the first place, is all I can say, and kept his oratorical impulses in check.
Funny...but I thought the same thing. You will see all of the politicians coming out of the woodwork now who supported this rediculous law. They will somehow denounce (come up with exscusses) on why they voted for this law and why they shouldn't have.
Doesn't it just remind us of the politicians who voted to go into Iraq and now are convieniently changing their mind? Poppy cock, I say...poppy cock!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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