George Borrello

ALBANY – Chautauqua County’s Senate representative in Albany says there’s already been unintended consequences of the recent repeal of a state law that protected members of law enforcement from disclosing disciplinary records.

Earlier this month both the State Senate and Assemblyman approved the long-stalled reform of the state’s 50a statute — which since the 1970s had routinely been used to keep the public from learning about police misconduct and disciplinary actions taken against police officers, correction officers, and fire fighters.

The repeal of the statute came in response to protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black Minnesota man who was killed when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. But even before Floyd’s death, a 50a repeal effort had been gaining steam in the legislature. The law became a point of contention in New York City following the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner at the hands of then-NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, whose disciplinary record was shielded in secrecy.

With the State Senate falling to Democratic control after the 2018 Elections, and with the Floyd’s death gaining national attention from protesters and demonstrates calling for immediate reforms, the effort was made in Albany at the start of this month to repeal the statute. The bill ultimately passed along party lines in the Senate by a vote of 40-22 and in the Assembly by a vote of 101-43. It was signed by governor Andrew Cuomo at the start of last week.

Sen. George Borrello (R-Irving), who represents all of Chautauqua County in the upper chamber in Albany and who was one of the 22 Republicans to vote against the repeal, released a statement this week denouncing the repeal and pointing to what he says are unintended consequences that will impact the budgets of local governments across the state.

According to Borrello, officials in the Town of Cuba recently received a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request from an out-of-state organization called MuckRock, demanding copies of all police personnel files that contain complaints of misconduct, including accusations that were found to be groundless after investigation. The request is for information dating back to the 1970s. MuckRock has stated that they have made this request of every policing agency in New York State.

“This is why I voted against the repeal of 50-a,” Borrello said in his statement to the media. “At a time when localities are struggling to meet their regular expenses because of the crushing impact that COVID-19 has had on their budgets, it is outrageous that they will now be required to devote precious staff time and taxpayer dollars towards searching, copying, faxing and emailing decades-old personnel files containing groundless claims, even those where the officers involved have been deceased for decades.”

Borrello said that for many police departments across the state, the small reimbursement that they are entitled to collect from a requesting organization won’t even begin to cover the costs with researching, assembling, and sending out the requested information. He also said that services to the public may even be impacted due to the time and resources required to fulfill the FOIL request.

“What good will this information serve?” Borrello asked. “It will wrongly tarnish officers who had unsubstantiated complaints lodged by vengeful criminal defendants and serve as fodder for lawsuits by trial lawyers looking to line their pockets. Taxpayers will be picking up the tab for this phishing expedition. That’s why a thoughtful analysis that included the potential financial impact and unintended consequences should have been done.”

“This is another example of why knee-jerk reactions for political reasons are costly,” he added.

The legal challenge was filed in May by the New York Civil Liberties Union. Although Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been named as a defendant in the complaint along with the state, he has gone on record saying he agrees with the NYCLU that excluding farm workers from the state’s Labor Relations Act is “inconsistent with our constitutional principles” – adding that his administration won’t defend the exemption in court.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a worker, Crispin Hernandez, who was employed at Marks Farms in Lewis County. According to the complaint, Hernandez was fired from his job after a manager found him meeting with a Workers’ Center of Central New York representative about workplace conditions on the farm.

With the state opting not to participate, New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton said the organization will file for intervenor status and submit a motion — if the group is allowed to intervene — to dismiss the case.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo

ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling on the state Education Department to do a better job of protecting transgender students from harassment and discrimination in the classroom.

In a letter to acting Education Commissioner Elizabeth Berlin, the governor expressed outrage over the department’s failure to implement and monitor provisions of the Dignity for All Students Act relating to gender identity.

The letter follows a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union that says discrimination and harassment of transgender students are pervasive and education officials have failed to carry out a legislative mandate to protect them.

The governor also called for a review to be published within the next three weeks of the department’s compliance with the Dignity for All Students Act.