ALBANY – Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski, R-Canisteo, said three of his criminal justice bills designed to protect public safety were blocked by members of the Democrat Assembly majority Tuesday.

“All three of these bills were considered in the Codes Committee, A.5579, A.4636 and A.5599 on Tuesday. All of them were held in committee in order to block them from advancing,” Sempolinski said.

The bills sponsored by Assemblyman Sempolinski would protect child victims of domestic violence, protect police officers from malicious online “doxing” attacks and give rural judges the right to carry a firearm into their courtrooms or other “sensitive locations” to defend themselves.

“New Yorkers say public safety is a priority and that they feel less safe. Blocking these bills make us all less safe,” Sempolinski said. “It’s a sign of how dysfunctional Albany has become that common-sense legislation to prevent children from being victimized, prevent the harassment of police officers and allow judges to defend themselves can’t get a fair hearing.”

Assemblyman Sempolinski’s bill A.5579 makes domestic abuse committed in the presence of a child an automatic felony, A.4636 amends the penal law to make it a crime of Second-Degree Harassment to disclose a police officer’s identifying information and A.5599 allows judges, justices and magistrates to carry a firearm in a “sensitive location” as defined by the 2022 Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

“These obstructionist tactics do nothing to protect public safety and are an extension of the disastrous policies like cashless bail and calls to defund the police,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said. “I will keep introducing legislation that improves the lives of New Yorkers. That’s what I was elected to do.”