Family backs Tedisco chronic offender bill BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
The parents and grandparents of two Schenectady murder victims returned to the state Capitol on Wednesday to press for passage of legislation which they said might prevent other such horrific crimes. Steve Downey and Kathy Cherry — parents of Hillary Downey and grandparents of her infant son, Romello Taylor — appeared with Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, to support passage of his Chronic Criminal Act (A-5774). Downey and Taylor were murdered in Schenectady in 2006 by Kareem Hayes. Tedisco’s bill would toughen penalties for chronic misdemeanor offenders, treating the fourth conviction as a felony. According to him and Steve Downey, Hayes was convicted of numerous misdemeanor crimes for which he received insignificant jail time, before he murdered Hillary Downey and her son. He is now serving 50 years to life in state prison. Steve Downey said he has spent his spare time for a year lobbying on this issue, but has only gotten lip service from Assembly Democrats. “Let it come to the floor for a vote,” he urged. Tedisco said his conference tried Wednesday to attach the bill as a hostile amendment to another measure, which Democrats then pulled from the calendar. He said another version of the same bill passed theSenate this week with strong bipartisan support, and has been sponsored in his house by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon. Pretlow said Wednesday he does not know what is holding up the bill. But he said he would not have voted for Tedisco’s hostile amendment, because he never votes for such amendments. The bill is currently in the Assembly Codes Committee. It is unlikely soon to emerge from it, said the committee chairman, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn. Lentol said he is opposed to the legislation. Certain categories of misdemeanors, he said, including drunk driving and sex crimes, are already bumped up to a felony when repeated. But he said he does not think that appropriate for other categories of misdemeanor. Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, said a bill was pulled from the calendar, but not because of Tedisco’s amendment. He declined to take a position on the Tedisco-Pretlow bill, saying he would leave it to the Codes Committee. Sisa Moyo, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, declined to provide the speaker’s position on the legislation. But she said it would be more productive for Tedisco to work and negotiate with the majority than to hold news conferences. Lentol said Tedisco’s representative on the state sentencing commission could raise the issue there.
I think that a first time sex offender conviction should be a felony. TO SAY THE LEAST!!!
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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