Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today criticized Assembly Majority members of the Governmental Operations Committee for voting to kill Assembly Bill 520 rather than sending it to the floor for a vote. This legislation, championed by Assembly Minority Leader Brain M. Kolb (R,C-Canandaigua), would establish lifetime mandatory supervision requirements and prohibit good behavior sentence reductions for those convicted of certain violent crimes. Hawley said this law is necessary to protect New York’s women from violent predators who have a high propensity to commit serious crimes even after completing their prison sentences.

“It is a mistake for this legislation to be held in committee,” Hawley said. “Unfortunately, there have been numerous tragic cases where women have been victimized because their assailants were released from prison unsupervised. Each day that this legislation sits dormant, we run the risk of another sister, mother, wife or daughter becoming a victim of a violent crime. That is a risk we should not be willing to take. It is disgraceful that members of the Assembly Majority do not have the same regard for the safety of women as I do.”