Albany Democrats have officially run out of regular criminals to release back onto the streets of New York, so now they’re going after the all-star roster. Four new bills working their way through the New York State Legislature would open the prison doors for — and we are not exaggerating here — David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” who terrorized New York City by murdering six people and shooting seven others in the 1970s. Also on the potential guest list? Mark David Chapman, the lunatic who assassinated John Lennon outside the Dakota in 1980.
But sure, tell us more about how Democrats are the party of “common-sense public safety.” These people want to let serial killers apply for parole because they turned 55 and have been locked up for 15 years. Fifteen years! Berkowitz killed SIX PEOPLE. Chapman executed one of the most famous musicians who ever lived. And Albany thinks a decade and a half is long enough to think about what you’ve done?
Here’s the buffet of insanity the New York legislature is cooking up. There are four bills, and each one is worse than the last.
First up: the **Elder Parole Act**. This one says that if you’re 55 or older and you’ve served at least 15 years, congratulations — you get to go before the parole board regardless of what you did. Murdered six strangers because a dog told you to? Doesn’t matter. You’re 72 now and your knees hurt, so let’s talk about your release plan.
Next: the **Fair and Timely Parole Act**. This gem blocks the parole board from considering the severity of your crime. Read that again. The people deciding whether to let you out are not allowed to think about how many people you killed or how you killed them. The board has to *presume* you should be released unless they can prove you’re a “clear public safety risk” right now, today. (Oh, you haven’t murdered anyone in prison this week? Welcome home!)
Then there’s the **Earned Time Act**, which cuts sentences by 50 percent — retroactively — and prevents the prison system from docking your good-behavior credits even if you’re violent behind bars. So you can shank a guy in the yard on Tuesday and still get your time chopped in half on Wednesday.
And finally, the **Second Look Act**, which lets inmates petition different judges for sentence reductions with no limit on how many times they can ask. Just keep filing until you find a sympathetic judge. It’s like Tinder for convicted murderers — swipe right until somebody matches with you.
Now let’s talk about the guest list for this little jailbreak party, because it’s not just Berkowitz and Chapman.
Joel Rifkin — serial killer. Murdered somewhere between nine and seventeen women. They’re not even sure of the exact number because he killed so many. He could apply for parole.
Colin Ferguson — the Long Island Rail Road shooter. Walked through a commuter train in 1993 and opened fire, killing six people and wounding nineteen others. People on their way home from work. He could apply for parole.
Payton Gendron — the white supremacist who livestreamed himself massacring ten people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo. He could eventually qualify under these bills.
Rex Heuermann — the Gilgo Beach serial killer who pleaded guilty to torturing and killing eight women. EIGHT. His sentencing isn’t even until next month, and Albany is already drafting his early release paperwork.
Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney put it plainly: “We’re talking about the worst of the worst. 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.”
Thousands. Not dozens. Thousands.
Theresa Bliss, whose son David was murdered in 2021, showed up to testify against these bills. Here’s what she told lawmakers: “When you pass laws that prioritize criminals over victims, you’re not reforming the system — you’re erasing us.”
Erasing victims. That’s exactly what this is. Albany looked at families who lost mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters to serial killers and mass shooters and said, “Yeah, but have you considered how the murderer feels? He’s getting old in there.”
This is what happens when you let the progressive wing of the Democratic Party run your state for too long. They’ve already emptied the jails of the petty criminals — the shoplifters walk free, the subway shovers get a desk appearance ticket, the repeat offenders cycle through the revolving door so fast they’ve got frequent flyer miles. So now they’ve moved on to the big fish. The lifers. The monsters.
Bruce Blakeman, the presumptive Republican candidate for governor, called these bills what they are: “get out of jail free cards” for dangerous criminals. He accused Governor Hochul of fast-tracking the release of violent offenders, and honestly, where is the lie? Hochul’s office was asked for comment and — shocker — didn’t respond.
A law enforcement source warned that if both the Elder Parole and Fair and Timely Parole bills become law, “vicious killers” would likely be freed within two years. Two years. Son of Sam could be riding the subway by 2028.
We used to agree as a society that if you murdered a bunch of people, you went to prison and you stayed there. That wasn’t controversial. That wasn’t partisan. That was just basic civilization. But apparently New York Democrats looked at that consensus and thought, “How can we wreck this?”
David Berkowitz is 72 years old. Mark David Chapman is 70. Joel Rifkin is in his sixties. And somewhere in Albany, a Democrat state senator is drafting legislation to send them all home with a bus pass and a pat on the back.
If you live in New York, call your state legislators. If you don’t live in New York, thank God — and then call your state legislators anyway, because this kind of insanity has a way of spreading.
