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Legislators in New York are currently evaluating a set of proposed laws that opponents argue could result in the release of notorious criminals, including mass murderers and serial offenders.
During a press conference on Friday, officials from Suffolk County and victims’ families highlighted cases such as Joel Rifkin, a serial killer responsible for the deaths of nine to 17 women; Colin Ferguson, who targeted commuters on the Long Island Rail Road, killing six and injuring 19; and Payton Gendron, a White supremacist who live-streamed his attack that claimed 10 lives in a Buffalo supermarket situated in a predominantly Black area.
The proposed legislation could see many other violent offenders freed as it seeks to introduce an elder parole initiative along with other measures that would grant early parole to convicted killers.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney expressed his concerns to Fox News Digital, stating, “We are dealing with individuals responsible for the most heinous acts, posing significant danger to society. They represent a minuscule fraction of the population yet are responsible for a disproportionately large share of crime, violence, and theft.”
Ray Tierney addressed the media during a news briefing in Riverhead, N.Y., on June 6, 2024, about Rex Heuermann, the architect from New York who later admitted to murdering women near Gilgo Beach on Long Island. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Joining Suffolk County officials at a news briefing Friday was Theresa Bliss, whose 25-year-old son David was murdered in 2021 outside a pizzeria in Port Jefferson after an argument with strangers.
“I have a question for every New York lawmaker pushing the Earned Time Act, Fair and Timely Parole Act, Elder Parole and Second Look Act, does our pain mean anything to you?” she asked. “How do you fight so aggressively for the early release of murderers, yet dismiss the families whose lives were shattered?”
The victims don’t get second chances, she added.
The man who shot her son received a sentence for 40 years to life in prison. Under the proposed reforms, parole could come much sooner.
“When you pass laws that prioritize criminals over victims, you’re not reforming the system — you’re erasing us,” she said.
The briefing came days after Tierney secured a guilty plea from another Long Island serial killer, Rex Heuermann, who is expected to be sentenced in June after admitting to torturing and killing eight women.
Tierney has been a frequent critic of the state’s recent bail reform laws, which allowed a group of people suspected of dismembering a body and littering the remains around Long Island’s south shore to go free before police had enough evidence to also charge them with killing the victim.
And earlier this month, he sidestepped the state’s sanctuary laws in order to make sure Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took custody of a Guatemalan man accused of raping a child.
Rex A. Heuermann pleads guilty to murdering seven women and admits to an eighth killing during a hearing in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., on April 8, 2026. (James Carbone/Newsday via Pool)
“While these bills are often framed as reforms and have innocuous titles, in reality, they will push thousands of New York’s most violent criminals out onto our streets,” Tierney warned.
Some key issues Tierney and Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine, both Republicans, slammed at a news briefing Friday:
One bill would cut all sentences less than life in prison by half and prevents prison assaults and stabbings from being deducted from credits for good behavior. Since the proposed reduction applies retroactively, it would “result in the immediate release of thousands of New York’s most dangerous inmates.”
“These people are where they are because they richly deserve it,” Tierney told Fox News Digital. “Every second of whatever sentence they receive, they’ve earned.”
Tops gunman Payton Gendron listens as he is sentenced to life in prison without parole for domestic terrorism motivated by hate and each of the 10 counts of first-degree murder by Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, in Buffalo, N.Y., Feb. 15, 2023. (Derek Gee/Pool via REUTERS)
Another bill would block the state’s parole board from considering the nature of the original crime when weighing parole — “no matter how horrible.” This specifically benefits murderers and rapists, the officials said, and implies that parole is automatic, not something earned.
“It turns parole upside down — it prohibits consideration of the seriousness of the crime and even the defendant’s remorse or lack of it,” Tierney said.
In the Bliss case, the killer was seen on home security video shortly after the shooting laughing about it. At future parole board hearings, the people deciding his fate would be unable to consider that behavior if the bill passes.
A third would impose a California-style elder parole in New York, and take the concept one step further, the officials warned. The Empire State’s version would abolish life without parole, “even for serial killers, cop killers and racist murderers.” It applies to inmates who have served at least 15 years of a sentence, including a life sentence, and are older than 55.
“Once [Gendron] turns 55, every two years those families are going to have to go through the parole process again,” Tierney said. “Why?”
Serial killer Joel Rifkin in a courtroom in Mineola, Long Island, where he pleaded not guilty to murder, July 15, 1993. (Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images)
The fourth bill gives felons a chance to petition a judge for a sentence reduction. The judge cannot be the same one who imposed their sentence to begin with. There is no limit on the number or frequency of petitions, and if one is denied, the inmate can immediately file another with a different judge.
Colin Ferguson arrives in court surrounded by court officers and wearing a bullet-proof vest on Dec. 10, 1993, for his initial hearing. He was later convicted of a mass shooting on a Long Island Rail Road train. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“These bills are an insult to every law-abiding citizen, the law enforcement community and especially the victims of these crimes,” said Romaine, the top elected official in Suffolk County, a suburb of New York City. “Use common sense and do not pass these bills.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 16, 2023, allowing certain criminal records to be sealed years after sentencing or release if no further convictions occur. (Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office for comment.
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