Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building 1550 Franklin Avenue, Mineola, New York 11501 NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATURE Hearing on Criminal Justice Reform AGENDA February 13, 2020 11:00 AM 1. Patrick Ryder Commissioner Nassau County Police Department 2. Jed Painter Counsel to the District Attorney Nassau County Office of the District Attorney 3. PUBLIC COMMENT 1 1 2 3 NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATURE 4 5 RICHARD NICOLELLO 6 PRESIDING OFFICER 7 8 9 LEGISLATIVE SESSION 10 11 12 County Executive and Legislative 13 Building 14 1550 Franklin Avenue 15 Mineola, New York 16 17 18 Thursday, February 13, 2020 19 11: 10 A . M . 20 21 22 23 24 25 REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 2 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S : 3 4 LEGISLATOR RICHARD J . NICOLELLO 5 Presiding Officer 6 9 th Legislative District 7 8 LEGISLATOR HOWARD KOPEL 9 Deputy Presiding Officer 10 7 th Legislative District 11 12 LEGISLATOR DENISE FORD 13 Alternate Presiding Officer 14 4 th Legislative District 15 16 LEGISLATOR KEVAN ABRAHAMS 17 Minority Leader 18 1 st Legislative District 19 20 LEGISLATOR SIELA BYNOE 21 2 nd Legislative District 22 23 LEGISLATOR CARRIE SOLAGES 24 3 rd Legislative District 25 REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 3 1 2 LEGISLATOR DEBRA MULE 3 5 th Legislative District 4 5 LEGISLATOR C . WILLIAM GAYLOR III 6 6 th Legislative District 7 8 LEGISLATOR VINCENT T . MUSCARELLA 9 8 th Legislative District 10 11 LEGISLATOR ELLEN BIRNBAUM 12 10th Legislative District 13 14 LEGISLATOR DELIA DERIGGI- WHITTON 15 11th Legislative District 16 17 LEGISLATOR JAMES KENNEDY 18 12th Legislative District 19 20 LEGISLATOR THOMAS MCKEVITT 21 13th Legislative District 22 23 LEGISLATOR LAURA SCHAEFER 24 14th Legislative District 25 REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 4 1 2 LEGISLATOR JOHN FERRETTI, JR. 3 15th Legislative District 4 5 LEGISLATOR ANDREW DRUCKER 6 16th Legislative District 7 8 LEGISLATOR ROSE WALKER 9 17th Legislative District 10 11 LEGISLATOR JOSHUA LAFAZAN 12 18th Legislative District 13 14 LEGISLATOR STEVEN RHOADS 15 19th Legislative District 16 17 MICHAEL PULITZER 18 Clerk of the Legislature 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 5 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 LEGISLATOR NICOLELLO: 3 Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to 4 get started. I ' m going to ask 5 Legislator Bill Gaylor to lead us in 6 the Pledge of Allegiance. 7 ( Whereupon the Pledge of 8 Allegiance was recited. ) 9 LEGISLATOR NICOLELLO: Thank you 10 very much for attending today' s hearing 11 on the criminal justice reform and its 12 effects on Nassau County and our 13 residents. We would like to get to our 14 speakers as quickly as possible so I 15 will offer just a few brief remarks. 16 It has been apparent for months that 17 criminal justice reform would have 18 significant effects on our county, on 19 our law enforcement, on our residents. 20 Most of us did not realize that the 21 effects and impacts would be as 22 immediate and as severe. Everyone 23 agrees that low level offenders who 24 pose no risk to the community and who 25 do not have the means to pay bail REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 6 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 should not languish in jail. That is 3 simple justice. Everyone supports that 4 reform. However, the criminal justice 5 reform goes much farther than simple 6 reform. This drastically changed law 7 enforcement in the county and it' s 8 taken away the discretion of judges to 9 assign bail to the vast majority of 10 crimes. 11 Over the last month or so, we 12 have seen drug dealers caught with 13 massive amounts of fentanyl and other 14 illegal substances being immediately 15 released. We have seen bank robbers 16 who are repeat offenders being 17 released. Home invaders being released 18 and the list goes on. Cashless bail. 19 Repeat DWI offenders being immediately 20 released and the list goes on. 21 Cashless bail and the new 22 discovery rules place enormous burdens 23 on our county, on our law enforcement 24 professionals, on our district 25 attorney. We need to know more about REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 7 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 what they are doing, how they are 3 handling and how they are planning to 4 handle the effects of this criminal 5 justice reform. 6 We also need to hear from our 7 representatives of our law enforcement, 8 the actual men and women who keep this 9 county safe and we need to hear from 10 the public. 11 Now, we know from the newspapers 12 that there are discussions and 13 proposals in Albany to revise the 14 criminal justice reform, to change it, 15 to do away with some of the more 16 negative impacts. And one of the 17 purposes of this hearing is to keep the 18 focus on this issue to give momentum to 19 those in Albany who seek to change the 20 criminal justice reform. 21 Having said that, I would like to 22 offer to Minority Leader Abrahams the 23 opportunity to say a few words. 24 LEGISLATOR ABRAHAMS: Thank you 25 Presiding Officer. First and foremost, REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 8 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 I think everyone on this dais agrees 3 that there needs to be some level of 4 reforms. I think when the announcement 5 of the provisions in the bail reform 6 came out our caucus reached out to 7 those in the state that were actually a 8 part of the enactment of this law and 9 expressed our concerns. However, 10 today' s hearing is built on what we 11 believe is a farce. By no doubt, and 12 no stretch of the imagination, we 13 believe that there needs to be reforms. 14 But on December 16th the Republican 15 majority decided to call on the county 16 executive as if she had some debate, 17 discussion, some enactment, some 18 responsibility with the bail reforms 19 that were passed in the state. And I 20 quote, " They called on the county 21 executive to oppose the crime reform 22 law. " The county executive, all she 23 did was implement the law but suddenly 24 she has been thrown into the thrust and 25 the fire by the majority by insinuating REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 9 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 that she had something to do with more 3 than following the law. 4 Furthermore, let' s be clear. By 5 passing the bill reforms that occurred 6 in the state, the Republicans are 7 politicking and fear mongering more 8 than anything else. Let' s stay in our 9 lane. The bottom line is we should be 10 expressing our concerns and I would 11 have taken a little less exception if 12 they expressed their concerns to their 13 state representatives. However, they 14 have taken the tack to try to loop in 15 the county officials that are a part of 16 this. Now, we should hear from our 17 police commissioner on how he' s going 18 to deal with the law and we should hear 19 from our district attorney just the 20 same. But when I saw the story that 21 appeared December 16th that called on 22 the county executive to denounce, why 23 aren' t we calling on denouncing the 24 SALT tax that was passed by the federal 25 government. Why haven' t we called REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 10 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 hearings in regards to NUMC. We have 3 no business at all, other than fact 4 gathering at this hearing, than 5 anything else. 6 The bottom line is very simple. 7 We have a responsibility to our public 8 to ensure that we give them fair and 9 balanced information. That' s where 10 this begins and that' s where this 11 should end. The bottom line is very 12 simple for us. The county did not 13 pass, did not have debates or 14 discussion. They had nothing to do 15 with enactment of this law. No 16 Democrat, no Republican in this 17 legislature had anything to do with 18 this law but today we find ourselves 19 holding a hearing basically which 20 starts with the premise of calling on 21 the county executive to denounce the 22 law, which to me is just trying to link 23 her to something that you believe - - 24 that you gain some type of political 25 advantage on and to me is wrong. That REGAL REPORTING SERVICE 516-747-7353 11 1 Full Legislature/ 2 - 13- 20 2 to me ties into everything that is more 3 fear mongering than anything else. 4 And as I said before, let' s be 5 clear, we believe that there needs to 6 be changes to this law and we believe 7 that we have seen some of those changes 8 that were announced the yesterday by 9 the senate majority leader in New York 10 State. However, I just want to say it 11 again and emphatically that the bottom 12 line for us is very simple. That this 13 legislature by some of its members' 14 actions have taken irresponsible 15 reckless actions by trying to deceive 16 the public that the county executive or 17 Democrats as a whole are in favor or in 18 are in support of any of the measures 19 of the Criminal Justice Reform Bill.