Time Running Out on Criminal Justice Reforms

State lawmakers say the chances of passing the criminal justice proposals championed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo are dimming, most notably the creation of an independent monitor to appoint special prosecutors in police violence cases and the push to raise the age of criminal responsibility.

Deadly police confrontations, including last year’s chokehold death of Eric Garner by a police officer and the shooting deaths of two NYPD officers months later, have spurred calls for sweeping reforms. Earlier this year Cuomo unveiled measures to better protect law enforcement, improve police-community relations and raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18, which would put the state in line with most of the rest of the country.

But legislators from both parties are citing several obstacles, from deep philosophical differences to a focus on unrelated issues like rent regulation, especially with this year’s legislative session scheduled to end on Wednesday.

Cuomo has threatened to appoint a special prosecutor by executive order if lawmakers don't approve his plan. Newsday reported yesterday that the governor has yet to introduce his criminal justice legislation.

Assemblyman Joe Lentol of Brooklyn, a Democrat, said this week that it may be too late to salvage a deal.

“We continue to struggle with it and talk, both staff and members, trying to come to some sort of an agreement,” said Lentol, the chairman of the Codes Committee. “But so far we’ve been unable to do that. The governor is in one place, the Senate’s another place and we’re—of course—in the right place. We’re willing to compromise, like I’ve told you before, and hope springs eternal as long as we’re in session.”

State Sen. Patrick Gallivan, a Republican, suggested that time may simply run out to reach a compromise, which he attributed to negotiations being dominated by rent regulations, the 421-a tax credit for developers and mayoral control of New York City schools.

“It does not seem that there’s been much discussion in the past several days about the criminal justice proposals,” said Gallivan, who chairs the Senate's crime and corrections committee. “Having said that, the less discussion there is, the less likely we can come to some agreement on that. But there’s no question that these are things that, whether we do something on it this session or not, I’m sure that we’ll continue these discussions well into the future.”

Senate Republicans have questioned the governor’s call for an independent monitor to review cases in which police kill unarmed civilians. Under Cuomo’s initial plan, local district attorneys would still be able to convene a grand jury for cases in their jurisdictions, although the monitor could step in if cases are not presented to a grand jury or there is no indictment and recommend the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Lawmakers have been somewhat more optimistic about the “Raise the Age” measure, which would treat 16- and 17-year-olds as juveniles in legal proceedings. Republicans have called for a more limited alternative that would simply house inmates under the age of 18 separately from adult prisoners.  Another Republican proposal would leave the decision on the age of criminal responsibility to the local district attorney, Lentol said, but he added that neither suggestion from Republicans would be acceptable to Democrats.   

“I think there’s a difference of opinion philosophically whether or not you should raise the age, in the Senate,” Lentol said. “We’re willing to compromise and do it for non-violent felonies and misdemeanors, but we really haven’t heard that from them yet. So I don’t want to negotiate with myself, you know what I mean?”

State Sen. Michael Nozzolio, the chairman of the Senate Codes Committee, said the Republican conference would be passing several other bills Tuesday dealing with attacks on police and resisting arrest while trying to reach a breakthrough on the special prosecutor and Raise the Age legislation.

“Discussions are ongoing, and they are becoming more frequent, and certainly have also elevated to the leadership level, with the governor and the legislative leaders discussing that too,” Nozzolio said. “We’ve got a few days left. We hope we can achieve the objectives getting a number of these measures enacted.”

- with reporting by Ashley Hupfl