Submitted by Terry O'Neill, Esq., Nov 20, 2007 18:53

Jacob is right; we're better off without a messianic leader. One more like Moses would be better. At least he had a coherent program that was reduced to ten top priorities.

The observation that the governor's program lacks clear focus and priorities is spot-on. From my perspective, which is focused on the administration of justice and public security issues, there are three priorities I would urge on Spitzer.

Court reform. There has been none since Hugh Carey presided over the implementation of major reforms adopted during the Rockefeller administration. There is a long-settled consensus on the main issues that must be addressed. The only one in play is judicial salaries. Well and good. That's a powerful bargaining chip and the governor should play it. The judges (and, of course, everyone else) get a raise when the public gets judicial selection reform and fulfillment of the four decade-old promise of Gideon v. Wainwright. I must say, that as a great admirer of Chief Judge Kaye, I am appalled that she is finding it necessary to spend the last year of her distinguished tenure pleading for raises. She's deserving of a much more exalted legacy. The three men in a room ought to show her some respect.

Transnational organized crime and terrorism. The immigrant licensing controversy resulted in a lot of irresponsible assertions that immigrants equal terrorists. The governor's proposal had the salutary effect of raising immigration reform to the level of presidential politics. Great. But the governor should leap ahead of everyone on this and call attention to the nexus between terrorism and illegal immigration. Both are hugely facilitated by a global network of criminal conspiracies. The federal government has made this threat in no way a national security priority. New York has a very impressive tradition of pioneering leadership in exposing and combating organized crime. The governor should build upon that.

Prison reform. The state correctional system releases some 26,000 inmates a year to distressed communities. There are no meaningful transition services that minimize the risk that these individuals will reoffend. I note that the Daily News publicized the administration's inclination to settle a suit brought on behalf of inmates who had been denied parole, including significant proportion of violent felons. Spitzer has decided to fight the suit. That litigation should be used as the vehicle for developing a settlement outlining a comprehensive prison reform agenda which would include inmate re-entry, appropriate treatment of mentally ill inmates, rehabilitative programming and even how prison inmates are considered for political reapportionment purposes. If you want to get an excellent perspective on the what has resulted after 40 years of tough on crime and drug policy -- a growing permanent underclass of incarceration-impacted people and communities -- I'd highly recommend a piece published recently by Christopher Shea of the Boston Globe . http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/09/23/life_sentence/ Read it and see why it is an issue of such historic social consequence that it belongs on the governor's must-do list.

Regards,
Terry O'Neill
The Constantine Institute
102 Willett Street
Albany, NY 12210
www.constantine-institute.org

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.