Senator Montgomery explains her “no” vote on Senate Bill S1963, sponsored by Senator Joseph E. Robach. The legislation would codify the release requirements of violent felons; the Parole Board would be restricted from allowing any felon convicted of a violent crime who has not served a minimum of eighty percent of their original sentence to be paroled early. With this legislation, the eighty percent mandatory minimum will be codified into state law.

Senator Montgomery has introduced the following bills to increase transparency, accountability and diversity on the State Board of Parole as part of her criminal justice legislative agenda:

S6806 (Montgomery)/A9132(O’Donnell) – This bill directs the State Board of Parole to publish its appeal decisions on a public website and create an annual index of such decisions.  The decisions are useful in that individuals and their attorneys can read appeal decisions in similar cases to see what kinds of arguments might apply to their cases and because agency transparency is an important tenet of open government. The Board of Parole, which exercises extraordinary discretion, should post its administrative appeal determinations so that the public and concerned citizens can have access to the body of decisions that informs the Board's practice.

S968A (Montgomery) – This bill would alter the composition of the State Board of Parole to include members who reflect the the composition of the prison population in race, age, and geographic area of residence and who are selected in consultation with the Correctional Association of New York.

S978A (Montgomery)/A9795 (Walker) – This legislation would alter the composition of the State Board of Parole by distributing the appointing authority of board members among the Governor, Senate and Assembly. If signed into law, nine members of the State Board of Parole shall be appointed by the governor, three shall be appointed upon recommendation of the temporary president of the senate, three shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the speaker of the assembly, two shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the senate and two shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the assembly.

To learn more about Senator Montgomery’s legislation, please visit  https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/velmanette-montgomery/legislation.