BY DIANE DIMOND It’s easy to understand the intent behind the current move to reduce prison overcrowding, but are we sure we’re doing it right? In 2010, when President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act to reduce federal prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders he specifically targeted those who had been convicted of crack cocaine […]
To the Editor, Rockland County Executive Ed Day’s recent column (“Fighting For East Ramapo,” March 17) tackles the highly charged debate over a state-appointed monitor for East Ramapo. The debate of the plight of the district’s public schools is legitimate and we are sympathetic to the district’s parents and students who have seen a depletion […]
A Democratic Majority Representing Rockland’s Entirety BY LEGISLATOR ALDEN H. WOLFE (D – Montebello) Chair, Rockland County Legislature Earlier this year, the Rockland County Legislature held its reorganization meeting, in which the recently elected and re-elected Legislators from 17 districts representing every county resident were sworn in. Legislators represent every town, every community, and every political persuasion. […]
BY DIANE DIMOND Law enforcement needs to know what it doesn’t know. Tracking trends in crime is a way to keep communities safe. Any decision made is only as good as the information used to make it, right? I submit the same holds true when figuring out how to fight crime. Since the 1930s, the […]
Dear Ms. Jones, Representing a suburban and exurban Assembly district with many commuters, I am acutely aware that numerous residents do not return home from work until well into the evening each day. In USPS branches that do not have extended lobby hours, these residents with post office boxes are oftentimes limited to one day per week they […]
The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) and its member counties are calling on the New York Legislature to include budget language that would allow for a phased in state takeover of the costs of indigent legal defense services. Indigent legal defense services is one of the nine state mandated programs that consume 99 […]