ALBANY - New York should increase the penalties for violent crimes committed within 1,000 feet of a school or college, turning campuses into "sanctuaries of learning" for students, a group of Capital Region legislators proposed Tuesday.
By WILLIAM F. HAMMOND Jr."Students should not have to live in fear as they travel to and from classes," said Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady. "A person who assaults, rapes or abducts on a school campus is the worst of predators because they target the future of our state and nation."
Tedisco is the prime sponsor of a bill that would stiffen prison sentences for 30 different categories of crime - including assault, rape and kidnapping - when they are committed on or near the property of a college, school or preschool. Second-degree kidnapping, for example, is normally treated as a B felony that carries a sentence of five to 25 years in prison. Under this bill, the same crime committed on school grounds would become an A felony with a sentence of 11 years to life in prison, Tedisco said. The bill also provides for posting "Assault-Free School Zone" signs around campuses to heighten awareness of the new penalties - similar to the "Drug- Free School Zone" signs posted under a previous state law. The bill is named "Suzanne's law" after Suzanne Lyall, a University at Albany student who has been missing since March 1998. The girl's parents, Doug and Mary Lyall of Ballston Spa, appeared at a news conference with Tedisco and other sponsors to endorse the bill. "To be honest, I don't know whether any of the legislation that is currently being proposed . . . would have made any difference with what happened last March second," Doug Lyall said. But he said Suzanne's law "could possibly prevent a tragic situation . . . and maybe minimize the chance of other families having to go through what we've had to go through over the past year." The bill is co-sponsored by three other Republican assemblymen who represent portions of Saratoga County, where the Lyalls live: Robert D'Andrea of Saratoga Springs, Pat Casale of Troy and Robert Prentiss of Colonie. "Suzanne's law we hope will serve as a deterrent . . . to make those who would assault and rape think again about going around school campuses," said Prentiss, a former teacher. A spokesman for the New York State School Boards Association said his group had not had a chance to study the bill, but probably would endorse it. "Generally we're supportive of anything we think has a reasonable chance of making schools safer," spokesman David Ernst said. "We don't think schools are unsafe now, and parents don't need to fear sending their kids to school," Ernst said. "But you never can achieve perfection, and the closer you can get the better." Supporters said the new proposal would complement a previous bill inspired by Suzanne Lyall's disappearance, which requires colleges and universities to plan for quickly responding to reports of violent crime and missing students. That bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, has already passed the Senate and been introduced by Assemblyman Jack McEneny of Albany, a member of the Democratic majority in the Assembly. The new bill, however, is sponsored by members of the Assembly's Republican minority, who usually cannot get their bills voted on, let alone passed. But Tedisco said he was hopeful, with Doug and Mary Lyall's endorsement, that Suzanne's law would ultimately receive bipartisan approval. "We've got the two most important people supporting it," Tedisco said. "That sends a message." Suzanne Lyall was a 19-year-old sophomore at UAlbany when she disappeared on March 2, 1998, and a year's worth of investigation has yielded little information, Doug Lyall said. Recently, the family has told their story on national TV programs, including NBC's "Today" show, which has generated a flood of potential tips, Doug Lyall said. "We continue to get calls, letters, e-mail," he said. "The answer is still out there."