The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver

Bill Signing: Raising The Penalty For Assaulting The Elderly

St. Margaret's House Senior Center, 49 Fulton Street, Manhattan
Friday, May 2, 2008 [12:30 P.M.]

[As Prepared For Delivery]

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver gives the thumbs up sign as Gov. David Paterson displays legislation he signed into law that the Speaker sponsored to toughen the penalties for crimes of assault against the elderly. At the bill signing ceremony in Manhattan, Silver and Paterson were joined by (From left) Assembly members Jeffrey Dinowitz, Janele Hyer-Spencer, Peter Abbate, Helene Weinstein, Joseph Lentol and members of the state Senate.

Governor Paterson. Members of the Legislature. Ladies and Gentleman.

First, let me say what a pleasure it is to be back here at the Saint Margaret's House Senior Center.

Earlier this year - February 29th, to be exact - I and several of my Assembly Majority colleagues came here to unveil our seven-bill legislative agenda designed to protect our older and wiser citizens from abuse and exploitation.

It is both fitting and gratifying that Governor Paterson is here this afternoon to sign this legislation into law; a bill I sponsored and that was part of the agenda we unveiled here at St. Mary's.

Let me take a moment to acknowledge the Members of the Assembly Majority who are here with me, standing in support of this legislation, and who work tirelessly to ensure that this state respects its elderly citizens by looking out for their safety and their well-being.

Joining us are:

• Assembly Member Joe Lentol of Brooklyn, the Chair of the Committee on Codes;
• Assembly Member Helene Weinstein of Brooklyn, the Chair of the Committee on Judiciary;
• Assembly Member Jeff Dinowitz, from the Bronx, the Chair of the Committee on Aging;
• Assembly Member Peter Abbate, also from Brooklyn;
• Assembly Member Michael Benedetto, from the Bronx;
• Assembly Member Rory Lancman from Queens;
• Assembly Member Janelle Hyer-Spencer, from Staten Island;
• Assembly Member Michelle Schimel from Nassau County;
• Assembly Member Phil Ramos, from Suffolk County;
• And Assembly Member Ken Zebrowski, from Rockland County.

That an estimated 300,000 senior citizens are the victims of abuse and exploitation in this state each year, is appalling.

Although government agencies and advocates are doing their best to fight crime against the elderly, we believe that New York State can and should do more to protect and assist our senior citizens.

Over the past several months, the Assembly Majority has conducted public hearings to examine the issue of elder abuse and exploitation under the auspices of the Committee on Judiciary, the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, and the Committee on Aging.

What we learned from these hearings prompted us to craft the legislative agenda I referenced a moment ago.

As you heard Governor Paterson say, the bill he will sign into law in a few minutes, increases the punishment for assaulting an elderly New Yorker.

As I said when we were here in February, the attack last year on 101-year-old Rose Morat and the subsequent assault on another elderly woman that same day by the same 45-year-old male, exposed the deficiencies in how New York's penal law protects our elderly.

While the assailant in these two cases could face robbery charges, under current law, he would face only a misdemeanor charge for assaulting those elderly women.

In other words, under current law, the penalties for physically attacking a 101-year-old woman are the same as if the victim was a 25-year-old football player.

Under the legislation that Governor Paterson will sign into law, if the victim is 65 years of age or older, and the assailant is ten or more years younger than the victim, the penalty is raised from a Class "A" misdemeanor, (which carries a maximum sentence of one year in a local correctional facility) to a Class D violent felony, punishable by up to seven years in a state prison.

That is certainly a much more fitting penalty and hopefully, a real deterrent to those who are heartless enough to prey upon the elderly.

In closing, let me express my appreciation to all of the advocates who helped us to craft this legislation, to my Assembly and Senate colleagues for their leadership and their bipartisan support of this legislation, and to you, Governor Paterson, for your compassion and your leadership in signing this bill into law.