By Phil Orenstein
Every elected official in the United States has sworn an oath to defend our Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” But way too many of our NYS elected representatives have failed in their duties to protect our inalienable rights, including our most basic right to live and be safe. They believe social justice is more important than our constitutional rule of law.
Our country rests upon the rule of law. That’s the reason for our survival. The lawbreakers had to be stopped and the citizens protected. The basis of our civilization is grounded in 4000 years of history originating from Greek and Roman Law, English common law, the Magna Carta, to the U.S. Constitution. The legacy of the past 4000 years has established that the rule of law is the glue that keeps society together.
Due to the anti-police, pro-criminal policies of the social justice warriors we elected, lawlessness has ensued, and we are no longer safe. Crime rates have been soaring and the bad guys no longer respect the law or fear law enforcement.
This is the tragic outcome of the Bail Reform Law of 2019 which was passed into law in 2020 by the Democrat supermajorities in the NYS legislature, without a single Republican vote. The NY Post has been putting pressure on Albany to repeal this law that allows repeat offenders “to keep terrorizing businesses and residents.” In a recent cover story, they argued that “just 10 criminals are responsible for nearly 500 thefts since the beginning of 2020, yet are let free almost every time.”
Bail reform, hatched from the concept of social justice, is the breakdown of law leading to the collapse of society. Social justice warriors believe that society based upon the rule of law is unjust and oppressive because some people succeed while others fail, and that society’s powerful oppressors are the cause of your failure and must be crushed. The oppressors are labeled as anyone white, wealthy, and male, and more recently anyone with a politically conservative viewpoint whatever your race or gender. They believe the criminal element are poor exploited victims of the powerful oppressors and are not responsible for their actions.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said thieves “steal baby formula and medicine” to survive and should not be punished. She is also quoted as saying that poverty-stricken shoplifters are “stealing bread to feed their children.” AOC, and the lawmakers of bail reform as well, live in a fantasy world where criminals are saints, police are the villains, and America is racist. But this is a red herring. These are not the same law-abiding poor people who are just like you and me. Criminal acts are done by criminals without a conscience who steal from the rich, middle class, and poor alike, and go on to commit further heinous crimes and acts of violence.
The major role of government is safety. But progressive politicians have their priorities upside down. Our lawmakers have hatched another hairbrained scheme to raise billions of dollars to improve the subways and make them more attractive to riders through congestion pricing. But if the subways are not safe, what’s the use of congestion pricing? If you don’t have laws to keep us safe, and protect society’s institutions, including mass transit, commerce, schools, tourism, the arts and entertainment, then society collapses. It all begins and ends with safety.
The worse thing that can happen with the breakdown of law and order is vigilante justice. Former Governor David Paterson said that this would be the outcome if government doesn’t protect the people. If people feel the police, the courts, DAs, and elected officials can’t protect them, it’s natural for people to take the law into their own hands, which amounts to the breakdown of the rule of law and the collapse of civil society as well.
Today, we’re seeing repeat offenders back out on the street committing crimes because of bail reform. This is tragic. The victims of these tragedies are crying out for the sake of all of us to “keep killers of our streets.” The Bronx mom whose son Jayquan Lewis was murdered by a cold-blooded killer was quoted in the NY Post: “I plead with any elected official reading this that we must change the bail reform laws. It’s insane how criminals are being arrested and released the same day for felony crimes. These are the same individuals who are being arrested again and again.”
The solution is to vote them all out. The only way to abolish bail reform is to fire the elected officials who voted this bill into law. The crushing defeat last year of Senator Todd Kaminsky (D-L.I.) who supported this bill needs to be repeated everywhere. Kaminsky lost the race for Nassau DA to Republican Anne Donnelly who ran as a tough-on-crime, law and order candidate. The people spoke up at the polls, voted to restore sanity, safety, and the rule of law.
Throw out every State Senator and State Assemblyman who voted in favor of this bill and vote for law-and-order candidates who will overturn the insane Bail Reform Law. A few months ago, we highlighted the Albany Democrats who voted for the bill. We listed their names in bold type and we do so once again. Remember their names, hold them accountable, and vote them all out of office in every election.
State Senators who voted for the bill: James Sanders Jr, John Liu, Michael Gianaris, Jessica Ramos, Leroy Comrie, Joseph Addabbo Jr, and Toby Ann Stavisky.
State Assemblymembers who voted for the bill: Stacey Pheffer Amato, Nily Rozic, Ed Braunstein, Andrew Hevesi, Alicia Hyndman, Brian Barnwell, Vivian Cook, Clyde Vanel, Jeffrion Aubry, Catherine Nolan, Catalina Cruz, and Ron Kim.
Every one of them must go! Get out and vote in November. Less than 25% of the registered voters showed up to vote in New York City elections last year. The Bronx mother of Jayquan Lewis is pleading for you to get out and vote and bring your neighbors and friends to the polls. Vote on Election Day for tough-on-crime, law and order, pro-police candidates, to stop the insanity and save our civilization. Voting matters. Elections have consequences.
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Phil Orenstein is the president of the Queens Village Republican Club. Established in 1875, it is America’s oldest Republican Club. www.QVGOP.org Historian, Jerry Matacotta, founder of History Seminar Series was the advisor for this article.
