OPINION

[Recently], the Assembly Minority Conference joined the families of violent-crime victims to call for changes to New York’s parole procedures and implore the state to fix its broken criminal-justice system. Despite pleas to keep cop-killers and rapists behind bars, the state’s misguided parole board has allowed individuals convicted of heinous acts of violence out of jail while the families of their victims expressed shock, fear, and frustration.

Samuel Ayala was recently released from prison after being convicted of raping and murdering two Westchester mothers while their children were present. Herman Bell, convicted in 1971 of murdering two police officers, was let out two years ago, and Anthony Bottom, who was imprisoned for that same murder, was just granted parole and is expected to go free this month. These decisions are clear evidence the parole board has lost its way.

The courage of individuals like Diane Piagentini — the wife of NYPD Patrolman Joseph Piagentini who was killed by Bell — and Jason Minter — whose mother, Bonnie, was a victim of Ayala’s — for coming forward and repeatedly demanding change cannot be overstated. They, and countless other crime victims, are the inspiration for our recent criminal-justice campaign and the spark behind our newly proposed legislation to reform the parole board. 

Instead of being able to peacefully mourn their lost loved ones and move on from the tragedies brought upon them, they are, instead, continually forced to fight an entrenched and mismanaged bureaucracy over policies that make no sense. This is unfair on every level and flies in the face of justice. 

 To address these egregious policy failures, we have introduced a new bill to strengthen legislative oversight of the 19-member parole board, including allowing members of the board to be removed by a majority vote of the New York State Assembly and Senate, in addition to removal by the governor. We are also calling for a requirement that a minimum of three members of the board interview inmates seeking parole (it’s currently two) and a requirement for a unanimous vote of the three members in order for parole to be granted (currently only a majority is required).

We have also reiterated our support for Ramona’s Law (A.6663), which, among other things, would extend the maximum number of months from 24 to 60 for the time between hearings for denied parole applicants in certain cases.

The inspirational bravery and calls for reform from victims and their families are just the first steps in our fight to restore justice in New York. There is much work to do to fix that, but we are committed to giving every victim and their loved ones a voice in this fight.      

William (Will) A. Barclay, Republican, is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact Barclay at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us 

OPINION

Elections are the hallmark of representative democracy. As a nation, we put a great deal of faith in elections, and the voting process. We abide by their results. Elections are fundamental to our system of government. We commit to a peaceful transfer of power to the election winners. Elections are the way we do business and make many key decisions.

We have hundreds of elections to choose candidates for public office. They occur at all levels of government: municipal, county, district, and state, as well as national. We have primary elections within political parties and elections to choose leaders of corporations and nongovernmental organizations.

Just as we cast ballots in elections, our core institutions rely on voting. The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate enact legislation by voting. Supreme Court decisions are approved by voting among the justices. Your local city council or township board votes to approve budgets and tax rates.

Elections generally reflect the principle of majority rule, but not always. Sometimes a plurality of voters decides, as when an election includes multiple candidates, and no one wins a majority. However, we agree on the rules by which elections are conducted and accept their results.

Representative government works because of our support for elected leaders. We choose, as a society, to be governed by them. It’s frightening to think of governmental decisions being made by a handful of unelected people.

Elections serve at least four important functions. First, they allow us to express policy preferences across a wide range of issues. Voters try to push government in certain directions. We use elections, for example, to signal our leaders how to manage the economy or conduct foreign affairs.

Second, and most obviously, we use elections to choose our leaders. Candidates work hard to get our support, but, ultimately, the voters decide. We support the individuals we want in office and the party whose ideals and values align with our own.

Third, elections help us enforce accountability, which is essential to democratic government. Elections are the way we ensure our government officials answer for their actions. We use the vote to express approval and disapproval.

A fourth function, I believe, is that elections confer legitimacy to our system of representative government, giving our leaders the authority to act through the consent of the governed. Through elections, we delegate responsibility for officials to act on our behalf.

In the United States, the world’s oldest constitutional democracy, we expect that elections will be free and honest and that votes will be tallied without prejudice or manipulation. Because of the importance of elections, we should be concerned about voter turnout. Only about 55 percent of eligible adults vote in U.S. presidential elections; turnout is much higher in most other advanced democracies.

New developments have emerged to shake our faith in elections. Russian forces have tried to influence American voters. Russian, Chinese, and Iranian hackers have reportedly tried to hack election-related computer accounts. President Donald Trump has questioned the validity of voting by mail and suggested, without evidence, that the election may be rigged against him.

The integrity of the electoral process is tremendously important. Free, honest, and transparent elections are essential for maintaining the public’s faith in government.

Abraham Lincoln famously asked whether a nation conceived and dedicated to the principle that all people are created equal could long endure. His answer was that America needed a “new birth of freedom” to deliver on its promise. Free and fair elections, conducted in accordance with accepted rules and procedures, are the way we ensure that freedom is continually reborn. We need to treasure and protect them.      

Lee Hamilton, 89, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south central Indiana.