Below is an encouraging update on the progress of the SAFE Parole Act, given by the Prison Action Network:
The Safe And Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act S1128/A4108
"There is good news! Much to our surprise, the SAFE Parole Act was introduced by Senator Kevin Parker (without even being asked!) and given its 2013 number, S1128. A few days later, Senator Kennedy signed on. In the Assembly, Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry sponsored it and it was given the number, A4108. Multi-sponsors Brennan, Crespo, Farrell, Gottfried, Scarborough, and co-sponsors Hevesi, Stevenson, and Clark also signed on.
Newly appointed to the leadership of the Assembly as the Speaker Pro Tempore, Jeffrion Aubry is no longer on the Corrections Committee, but is a member of the Assembly's Codes committee. He has been replaced as the Chair of the Assembly's Corrections Committee by Daniel O'Donnell, who signed on to the SAFE Parole Act last session, and hopefully will again this year.
Prison Action Network visited with Senator Parker and together we designed a strategy, which is basically to intensify what we have already been doing, sending our stories to Committees in both houses, and then to our own representatives, with copies sent to Senator Parker to show his colleagues how much support there is. He is not on the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, but he is on Finance and Rules where many bills have to pass before going before the Senate for a vote. Both houses need to pass the bill before it can become a law, and the Governor has to sign it."
