“The Senate Democratic Conference has sponsored multiple pieces of legislation that will provide dignity and greater protection to the victims of domestic violence,” Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson said. “Unfortunately, the Senate Republicans have refused to bring these bills to the floor for a vote, choosing to play politics rather than protect vulnerable New Yorkers. In light of their national party’s opposition to the Violence Against Women Act, it is more important than ever for the Senate Republican Majority to join us in passing this legislative package.” Click here to read the rest of Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson’s post.

Watch the clips below!

Kim Dadou, Domestic Violence Advocate and Survivor, testifies at Women’s Forum on Domestic Violence

Lady Kathryn Williams, DV Advocate and Survivor, testifies at Women’s Forum on Domestic Violence

Tamar Kraft-Stolar, Correctional Association of NY, testifies at Women’s Forum on Domestic Violence

Our Ken Lovett reports:

Lawmakers heard several moving stories from domestic violence victims who were jailed after killing their abusive spouses.

One bill being pushed by the Senate Democrats would give judges greater discretion to offer up shorter prison terms when sentencing domestic violence victims convicted of crimes related to the abuse they suffered. Click here to read more.

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“We were in a five year long relationship. It was very violent. And five times I had him arrested: Orders of protection, police reports, hospital records. In self defense I ended up taking his life,” Dadou said.

Dadou spent 17 years in prison for manslaughter. But a bill being pushed by Democrats would give judges the discretion to lessen sentences for those who protect themselves in domestic abuse situations. Right now, the laws don’t make any distinction when the crime is committed by a woman fighting back. Click here to read more of this article.

On the program, Senator Patrick Gallivan, a Republican from Western New York, openly expressed his support for our legislation. As a key legislator in a Republican-controlled State Senate, Senator Gallivan’s endorsement would be a significant step towards the bill’s passage–but we need him to take the next step and become an official bill co-sponsor.

Please take action now to thank Senator Gallivan for his support for DV survivors, and encourage him to take the next critical step by signing on as co-sponsor of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.

Watch Domestic Violence Survivors Bill on PBS. See more from New York NOW.

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Kim Dadou of Rochester, who spent 17 years in prison for fatally shooting her boyfriend, said the bill “is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card.” It’s about being humane to survivors of domestic violence, she said. She had been abused by her boyfriend for years.

“I was in the courtroom getting orders of protection just a couple months before I was in the courtroom being charged with murder. This isn’t something that I planned,” she said at a news conference in the Legislative Office Building today. Click here to read more.

The bill would afford judges the discretion to impose lesser sanctions, including non- incarceration sentences in some cases, and would also permit domestic violence survivors now in prison to petition for resentencing.

But the main sponsors of the Domestic Violence Survivors Act —Senator Ruth Hassell- Thompson, D-Mount Vernon, and Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens—told advocates at an Albany press conference on April 17 that they are facing an uphill battle, largely because of opposition from prosecutors.

Under the proposed bill, A7874-A/S5436, judges would be permitted to impose alternate sentences if they find that the defendant was a victim of domestic violence who was subjected to substantial physical, psychological or sexual abuse by a member of the same family or household; that the abuse was a “significant contributing factor” in the commission of the crime; and that the legally proscribed sentence would be “unduly harsh.”

According to a bill justification memo, 93 percent of women convicted of killing an intimate partner had been abused. The sponsors say in the memo that judges now lack the discretion to, in appropriate cases, “fully consider the impact of domestic violence when determining sentence lengths.”

Aubry said there is wide support for the bill in the Democrat-controlled Assembly. But Hassel-Thompson said the upper chamber, which is dominated by Republicans, is far less receptive. She urged advocates to “be continually vigilant and ensure that we talk to everyone” and ensure that the claims of critics are rebutted.

“This bill is not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Hassell-Thompson said. “Rather, what this bill does is give…a judge the discretion to either grant a petition for a reduced sentence or reject the application because there is insufficient evidence that a reduced sentence is warranted. A frivolous petition would end up in the garbage.”

But prosecutors contend the measure is too broad and would permit a defendant to seek a lower sentence or resentencing even if the victim was not their abuser.
“As prosecutors responsible for enforcing crimes of domestic violence, we are aware the criminal justice system may not always adequately address violence against women,” Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, said in a statement and in a draft letter being prepared for legislative leaders.

“The proposed legislation would not advance the proponents’ goals and in fact would undermine the safety of our community by allowing violent defendants to receive lesser sentences for crimes committed against innocent victims,” DiFiore said, stressing that the association opposes the Hassell-Thompson/Aubry bill.
The bill was promoted at a press conference organized by the Public Affairs Committee of the Junior League, the Correctional Association of New York and the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Among the speakers was Kim Dadou, who spent 17 years in prison for manslaughter after shooting an abusive boyfriend.

“I was in the courtroom getting orders of protection just a couple of months before I was in the courtroom getting charged with murder,” said Dadou, 44. “This isn’t something that I planned. I am not a violent person. I don’t want any woman, any man, anyone, to ever have to go through what I did.”

There was no immediate response from the Senate Republican majority.
@|John Caher can be contacted at jcaher@alm.com.

The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (A.7874-a/S.5436), sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, and Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Mount Vernon, would amend the penal law and criminal procedure law for sentencing in domestic violence cases. Hassell-Thompson, a member of the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, said it would be a “tough pull” to have the legislation passed this session. Click here to read more.