Addressing the plague of repeat offenders and giving judges more control
By Bob Confer, pictured is homicide victim Amanda Thompson
You see the headlines often enough to know that the state legislature’s almost wholesale changes to criminal justice under the guise of social justice reform – such as Raise the Age and bail reform — have emboldened criminals.
Within Niagara County, for example, last year’s numbers showed vehicle thefts 31% higher than they were five years earlier. Larcenies were up 19%. Homicides grew from 4 in 2019 to an average of 14 in the four years that followed. And, from 2019 to mid-2024, there were more than 1,400 repeat offenders booked in the county.
Niagara County isn’t alone in that regard. In one of the more visceral examples, things had become so bad in the Big Apple that last year Governor Hochul deployed the National Guard to keep order in the subways and restore some of the safety and decency that state government took away.
Rather than deploying members of the armed forces to bring about law and order at local levels (a very questionable move whether by a Governor or a President) it is best to attack the root cause: That is, fight reform with reform.
You certainly can’t expect the majority of the state legislature to admit the errors in their ways and strike their all-in changes to the judicial and penal systems. So, trying to improve public safety must be done incrementally, “baby steps” if you will.
Along those lines, last week, a press conference was held in Niagara County to bring attention to the PROTECT Act. It was the latest in a series of such events held across the state, throughout the year, by law enforcement, the Consortium for Safe Communities, and lawmakers.
An acronym for Pretrial Risk Overview for Threat Evaluation, Custody, and Treatment, it is the brainchild of Senator Pam Helming. It would fix the current situation under which judges can only consider flight risk when setting bail, not the potential danger that the defendant/accused might pose to public safety.
If the Act were to be passed, judges would be required to consider, through a standardized risk assessment developed by the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the risks individuals charged with a felony or Class A misdemeanor present when determining pretrial custody.
It would also address the plague of repeat offenders. Individuals who are arrested for new felony or Class A misdemeanor offenses while they are out on pretrial release will remain in custody unless a judge determines their risk to re-offend has been sufficiently mitigated.
The PROTECT Act is not all about punishment. It’s about support, too. It acknowledges the ongoing mental health crisis and allows courts to direct individuals who pose an immediate risk to themselves or others to receive appropriate evaluation and treatment.
The bill never made it to the floor during the 2025 legislative session as it languished in codes committees in both the Senate and Assembly. There’s a good chance that it will stay there again in 2026 because of the egos and misguided interests of downstate legislators.
That has not tempered the efforts to get it passed. Senator Helming encourages New Yorkers to sign the PROTECT Act petition on her website (https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/pamela-helming). Change can come about if voices are heard in volume. And, if passage by traditional means of a vote on the floor doesn’t work, she and other elected officials are hopeful that widespread public support can lead to a buy-in by Governor Hochul who can then include it in the 2026-2027 state budget, a backdoor means regularly used for everything under the sun.
New York is the only state that does not allow courts to consider public safety when making pretrial custody decisions. The PROTECT Act would change that and prevent acts as heinous as the July murder of Amanda Thompson in Buffalo. Her ex-boyfriend, a convicted murderer released on parole in 2023, was arrested for breaking into Thompson’s home and choking her. He was released on bail, and then he returned to Thompson’s home and allegedly shot and killed the mother of four on her front porch.
As Thompson’s teenage son said at an August rally at Buffalo’s Niagara Square: “The system failed her. Everything failed her….if poor judgment were never a problem in this broken system, my mother would still be here.”
Read Thompson’s obituary: Amanda Thompson Obituary (1981 – 2025) – Franklinville, NY – Buffalo News
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Bob Confer is a WNY writer, TV host, businessman, family man, and policy wonk. You can reach him anytime at, Bob@ConferPlastics.com
