Reforming judicial diversion programs

Sen. John Bonacic
Posted 8/21/12

New York City Police Officer Randolph Holder was shot and killed in the line of duty on Tuesday, October 20. Officer Holder dedicated, and ultimately sacrificed, his life to protect and serve New …

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Reforming judicial diversion programs

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New York City Police Officer Randolph Holder was shot and killed in the line of duty on Tuesday, October 20. Officer Holder dedicated, and ultimately sacrificed, his life to protect and serve New Yorkers. He was given no breaks, no easy road to achieve such an honorable profession. Yet his alleged shooter, Tyrone Howard, a known, life-long criminal, was afforded every break and every alternative to incarceration that our state judicial system has to offer.

This tragedy is an example that there is an overzealous movement in New York State to circumvent the criminal justice system. From bail reforms to diversion programs for violent criminals, such reforms are not only nonsensical, they are dangerous and often deadly. Tyrone Howard is only 30 years old, and he spent most of his life in the revolving door of the New York State criminal justice system. According to court documents, he was convicted of armed robbery as a youthful offender. In 2009, Mr. Howard shot a drug rival on a crowded outdoor basketball court in East Harlem. In 2011, he avoided imprisonment by providing information on other criminal cases. Over the course of a two-decade criminal career, he continuously returned to a life of drug crime.

While alternatives to incarceration have pushed forward, they have done so without considering fully that such alternatives are not appropriate for every convicted criminal. Judicial diversion programs are meant to counsel and rehabilitate those who have committed non-violent crimes, which often are related to addiction and abuse. Judicial diversion programs are not meant for criminals with a known propensity for violence, who should be incarcerated to protect the general public. The shooting of Officer Holder illustrates this all too tragically. The alleged shooter, Mr. Howard, was a drug diversion participant with a history of violence. Our laws failed us by permitting him to continuously return to street crime.

In 2011, I introduced legislation to require a court to consider a defendant’s propensity for violence before assigning them to a judicial diversion program for substance abuse, and to require a greater level of security at facilities that treat judicial diversion defendants. This legislation passed the Senate in 2011, then in 2012, then in 2013, in 2014 and again in 2015. It has never come to a vote in the Assembly.

It is essential that as the conversation about criminal rehabilitation moves forward, protections that ensure public safety move along with it. We can never know if these reforms would have prevented this tragedy, but it is obvious that more must be done to ensure not only the security of those working with judicial diversion defendants, but also the safety of all of our citizens.

[Sen. John Bonacic is the New York State Senator representing the state’s district 42.]

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