By Hector Flores
After a decade of debate, the state Assembly's Democratic majority has agreed to add civil confinement to proposed sex-crimes legislation. The move follows a year of intense lobbying by the Assembly Republican minority, including, most prominently, North Merrick Assemblyman David McDonough.
If passed into law, civil confinement legislation would allow the state to hold convicted sex offenders in secure mental facilities after their release from prison, if they are deemed potential threats. Judges would review the cases.
McDonough believes civil confinement will pass the Assembly in the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January. The measure has already repeatedly passed the Republican-controlled Senate.
Sheldon Silver, a New York City Democrat and the Assembly majority leader, said civil confinement would be included in the Child Safety and Sexual Predator Punishment and Confinement Strategy bill, a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at strengthening the state's sex-crimes laws.
In addition to civil confinement, the bill would impose mandatory life sentences for the most serious sex crimes, and provide for closer tracking of sex offenders once they are released from prison. "What we are putting forth is an effective strategy that seeks to increase public protection through a range of coordinated policies," Silver said, adding that the new legislation was the result of public hearings that examined ways of enhancing current laws.
McDonough, who is vice chairman of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women, called the Child Safety and Sexual Predator Punishment and Confinement Bill a victory for sexual assault victims. "In the absence of statewide laws, many towns and counties have taken matters into their own hands, passing legislation that would protect our communities from convicted sex offenders," said McDonough. "It is about time Assembly Democrats made civil confinement a priority for the upcoming session. It is our responsibility as lawmakers to do what is necessary to protect citizens from sexual predators."
McDonough said that Assembly Republicans started introducing civil-confinement legislation in 1993, but Democrats have repeatedly blocked the measure from coming to the floor of the Assembly for a vote. He attributes the majority's change of mind to a grass-roots petition-writing campaign calling on Assembly Democrats to pass the legislation. In 2005, Republican Assembly members gathered more than 15,000 petition signatures. McDonough, who collected thousands of signatures himself, credited Republican-sponsored hearings calling for civil confinement, as well as local media coverage, for the campaign's success.
"Because of the press coverage, we had lots more petitions," he said. "A lot of people who saw the stories in the Herald contacted us to get petitions. I got hundreds of extra petitions just because of that, and I gave the information and articles to Albany as well. I'm sure it had a very big effect on what is about to happen."
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
