Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union
Gov. Cuomo signed bills Thursday to get tough on repeat domestic abusers, including a measure that creates a new felony charge, Aggravated Family Offense.
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo signed bills Thursday to strengthen penalties for repeat domestic abusers and to make it tougher for them to be released on bail.
The legislation, which had been sought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., creates the new felony of Aggravated Family Offense. It can be charged against anyone who is convicted of a domestic-violence-related misdemeanor and then gets arrested within the next five years for a domestic violence incident.
The felony count carries a maximum prison term of four years.
Currently, repeat domestic violence offenders, even those with convictions, can only be hit with a misdemeanor for new arrests, absent evidence to support a felony, such as a serious assault or an attempted murder.
“This legislation addresses one of the underlying problems of domestic violence — the ability of offenders to abuse their victims again and again without serious consequences,” Vance said in a statement.
Cuomo also signed legislation requiring judges to consider different risk factors — including access to firearms and previous violations of orders of protection — when setting bail requirements for those accused of an offense against a family or household member.
“By strengthening the domestic violence laws, New York is leading the way in protecting victims and prosecuting offenders while demonstrating to the nation that we will not tolerate violence against our families,” Cuomo said.
The governor also announced a handful of new programs to improve the state’s response to domestic violence cases, including a new, specialized court at the Rikers Island Judicial Center that will swiftly process domestic violence cases against city parolees. Also, new online training related to domestic violence will be provided to police officers.
gblain@nydailynews.com
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NydnRss/~3/XgBzsZiF-OQ/story01.htm
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