Assembly Republicans, including David McDonough (R, 19th A.D.), vice chair of the Assembly Minority Task Force on Sex Crimes and Violence, launched a petition drive to help get a civil confinement law passed in New York State. They rallied at a June 27 press conference in Mineola. The legislation has passed the Senate for years and Assembly Republicans are confident Governor George Pataki will sign the bill into law once it passes his desk.

Under current law, sex offenders are released into the general population upon completing their jail sentences without treatment designed to address their unique treatment needs. The legislation, Assembly Bill No. A.2693, provides for such treatment and simultaneously extends greater protection to the public by establishing procedures to civilly confine persons who have committed acts of sexual violence and are likely to re-offend. It also establishes a procedure for identifying a "sexual violent predator," defined as a person who has committed a sexually violent offense and who suffers from a mental abnormality.

Through the petition drive, Assembly Republicans are hoping to put pressure on their Democratic colleagues to get the legislation to the Assembly floor for a vote. "As we concluded this legislative session ... there were a number of proposals that were not brought up in the Democratic-controlled Assembly," Assemblyman James Conte (R, 10th A.D.) noted. "We're looking to do a number of things but number one on our list is to pass civil confinement. That keeps the most egregious individuals - who are out there and are going to prey again on our kids - behind bars."

They are also urging passage of the following proposals to strengthen Megan's Law: prevent convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or school grounds (A.1654); require the most dangerous sex offenders to wear electronic devices linked to Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites in order to monitor their whereabouts (A.8158); expand the information available about sex offenders on the Division of Criminal Justice Services' website to include information on all (not just Level 3) registered sex offenders (A.1701); require law enforcement officials release information on Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders - those at the highest risk of committing additional crimes - to vulnerable populations in the community (A.1654); and require lifetime registration for all sex offenders on the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

"Every day we look in the paper or see on the news another terrible, horrendous sex crimes story and we in New York State must do something to help protect our people," McDonough said. "We are here today to launch a statewide petition drive calling on the Assembly, especially the Majority, to let these bills come to the floor."

Although touting a very successful legislative year, McDonough noted that many issues, particularly bills to help better protect New York State's children, were not covered. "Civil confinement is already the law in 17 other states and has been upheld by the Supreme Court on at least three occasions," McDonough added. "We're calling on the Assembly Majority to let this bill come to the floor so we can do what we're supposed to do - help protect women and children in the State of New York."

According to the Assembly's website, the Mental Health Committee is currently considering the bill. Sexual crimes have the highest rate of recidivism. Sexual offenders have actually written to the Assembly Minority Task Force on Sex Crimes and Violence seeking help. "This happens over and over again," McDonough noted. "In prison they are not getting the appropriate treatment."

Suffolk County Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R, 9th A.D.) was proud to help spotlight the issue. "In Nassau and Suffolk counties alone there are 1,300 registered sex offenders. Every day, our women and children face the possibility of having something awful happen to them. The time has come to address civil confinement and these other issues."

Raia and his Republican colleagues have created Excelsior 2005, a plan of action specifically geared toward Long Island and its future. "This talks extensively about what we need to do to put these perverts behind bars," he explained. "We need to change Megan's Law because right now only Level 3 sex offenders are on that website. I'm telling you today that Level 1 and Level 2 sex offenders are just waiting to become Level 3 sex offenders. The only problem is they haven't been caught yet. I'm challenging the speaker in the Assembly today that should we come back before January, when the normal legislative session begins, we take up these issues because nothing is more important than protecting the lives of our women and children in New York State."

Assemblyman Joseph Saladino (R, 12th A.D.) too believes civil confinement must become the "law of land" in New York State. "We must do something to stop the threat to our children. Our statistics tell us that a sexual offender will have 117 victims over [his/her] lifetime. This number is outrageous," he said. "We must do everything possible to protect our children so that when they leave their homes, they know they will come back. The answer is enacting civil confinement law ... This is something that we know, if it gets to the floor, will pass."

Having been elected just this May, Assemblyman Rob Walker (R, 15th A.D.) thought it important to speak out on the issue. "Many issues were accomplished in the Assembly and in the Senate but there is more work to be done. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that once you're elected and listening to all of the problems associated with this, that a bill such as this has to pass."

Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell (R, 17th A.D.), who did not attend last week's press conference, had this to say: "Our first priority as a state government should be to protect our children from sexual predators, who, having been released from prison after doing their time, we know will offend again. The civil confinement proposals will safeguard our children and they have been found constitutional by the United State Supreme Court."

Petitions are making their way to local PTAs, libraries and schools and can be found in all Assembly offices on Long Island. "We need parents to make the effort to get their friends' and neighbors' signatures on these petitions so we can make civil confinement law," Saladino said.

Last October, outraged parents rallied outside Nassau County District Court in Hempstead, toting signs and demanding civil confinement. Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a national community and victims' rights organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of childhood sexual abuse, said parents congregated last fall to put Albany on notice. "We need state lawmakers to take action," Ahearn told Anton Newspapers last year. "Our state has a right, just like other states in this country, to confine dangerous sexual predators..."

Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington are among the 17 states that have already passed civil confinement law.