A doctor’s note would be a get-out-of-jail-free card for many violent felons under a new cost-savings plan in Gov. Spitzer‘s budget.
Proposed legislation buried deep within Gov. Spitzer‘s budget plan last week would allow the state to free scores of seriously ill and incapacitated inmates now crowding prison hospitals – saving the state $5.4 million in annual medical costs.
The Democratic governor’s “compassionate release” plan would dramatically expand a little-used 1992 law that allows early parole to inmates suffering from terminal illnesses provided their convictions don’t include murder or a sex offense.
Spitzer would extend that option to inmates who suffer from permanent conditions that bar them from performing daily tasks and prevent them from posing a “reasonable” threat to society.
Likewise, the new budget bill would allow the parole board to decide whether weekly or monthly visits to parole officers are warranted for the new parolee. Current law requires weekly visits.
It’s unclear how many inmates would be eligible for release under the program. In legislative papers, administration officials suggest the move would free up many beds at five prison hospitals now serving as de facto nursing homes. Some 295 inmates are currently housed in such facilities.
The proposal, which comes on the heels of revelations that Spitzer’s parole board is freeing violent felons at an increased rate, was slammed by state Senate Republicans.
“There’s no rhyme or reason,” said Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn). “A guy’s been arrested for committing a crime; he should do the time. The community should not have the burden of them living around their families causing more crime and more mayhem.”
Division of Criminal Justice Services spokesman John Caher the early release was a “humane” answer to the costly problem. He said it would be considered only for inmates in the most debilitating condition.
“We think it’s a better way to deal with those people who are clearly no longer a risk,” he said. “They’ve probably been punished for several decades. It saves money. It poses no danger to the public.”
Also in the governor’s budget:
* Plans to create the state’s first witness protection program, setting aside $500,000 to help informants move, change their identities or replace locks on their doors. It also calls for tougher penalties for witness tampering and a new class of restraining order against those who might intimidate witnesses.
* End automatic annual health inspections at supermarkets to save $1.2 million, and instead focus on “high risk” facilities like slaughterhouses, packing plants or supermarkets with a history of complaints.
* Generate $15 million annually by installing license plate-tracking technology along state highways and bridges to nab commercial truckers who aren’t paying their fair share of the highway-use tax.
* Raise $140 million out of the pockets of anyone who pays for their own health insurance – costing such families about $79 per year – by upping a surcharge first created in 1997 to help fund doctor training. Since the insurance surcharge’s creation, the state has siphoned off the revenue to help pay for general public-health programs.
* Measures to protect consumers, including a $320,000 proposal to create an office to monitor complaints against airlines and a $205,000 plan to test toys for lead.