Former Gov. David Paterson criticized Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for refusing to support legislation that would increase criminal penalties for violent shoplifters and other thugs who assault retail employees.
“I don’t really understand that. I was a little surprised that he seemed to be saying this.” Patterson said on “The Cats Roundtable” on 770 WABC.
Gov. Heastie (D-Bronx) argued last week that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed tougher penalties would not reduce crime.
“I don’t think increasing penalties will ever deter crime,” Heastie said.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) endorsed Heastie and said she would take a different route to combating shoplifting than stiffer sentencing.
But Ms Patterson said she was shocked that Heastie closed the door.
“They’re not high wage earners. Most of them aren’t unionized…When people come robbing stores…you should be lenient with this kind of thing, but I don’t see it.” I really don’t understand that,” Patterson told radio host John Catsimatidis on Sunday.
“[Heastie] A very good friend of mine. He’s a very decent person. I’d like to talk to him one-on-one. ”
In addition to cracking down on the exploding number of retail thefts, Hochul’s budget also increases penalties for those who assault retail employees and increases the strength of state police and district attorney teams to go after the biggest offenders. Investments were included.
In his State of the Union address in January, Hochul exclaimed, “We have to stop the chaos.”
Patterson agreed, saying that keeping criminals in prison longer means they don’t commit as many crimes, and because they’re older, they’re less likely to commit crimes when they’re released. He said that this means that the value will be lower.
Patterson, a former governor, lieutenant governor and state senator, has always supported fair treatment of criminal defendants, but he has always supported “revolving door” trials for serial offenders who have served little or no time in prison. He said he does not support it.
“It’s like a revolving door. There’s no opportunity for any kind of rehabilitation. There’s no room for remorse before the parole board,” Patterson said.
“People like me have always advocated for fair trials for people, not that we should not have fair trials for people like we used to, but now we need bigger penalties. “We need to recognize that ‘there is now,'” he added.
Patterson said he heard recently that Heastie had told him, perhaps only half-jokingly, that he sounded more like a Republican.
“I was coming out of there [WABC] In the studio…and I got in the car and someone called me and I picked up the phone and the voice said to me, “When are you going to change your registration to Republican?” It was Carl Heastie. I said, “Carl, I’ve been trying to call you for three months and you haven’t answered my calls.” If this is okay, I’ll sign up tomorrow,” Patterson laughed. I said while doing so.
