ALBANY – The New York State Senate has passed “Brittany’s Law”, a public safety measure that would create a tracking system and public registry of domestic violence offenders, for the eighth straight year.
The law is named after 10-year-old Brittany Passalacqua, who was murdered along with her mother, Helen Buchel, in 2009 by John Edward Brown. Beown was released from state prison after serving two and a half years behind bars for assaulting his infant daughter in 2003, and was on parole only a few months before the murders of Passalacqua and Buchel.
The passing of “Brittany Law” comes on the day of what would have been Buchel’s 43rd birthday. “It is a painful reminder that their lives were brutally cut short by a man with a history of domestic violence,” said State Senator Cathy Young, who has been an advocate for this law since its creation in the State Legislator in 2010.
The law will require convicted domestic violence offenders to register with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services upon their release, or granted parole. The information would then be logged in a public registry similar to the sexual offenders registry under Megan’s Law.
However, there has been pushback from the State Assembly, who has been blocking the legislation from officially becoming law. Senator Young expressed her frustrations with the Assembly, saying many others have lost their battle with domestic violence since the legislation first passed the Senate. “If we act now, we can save innocent lives in the future.”
