To hell with the safety of the public, it’s for the votes.
Via NY Daily News:
Cop killer Herman Bell is among the more than 24,000 parolees granted conditional pardons by Gov. Cuomo so they can vote.
While the governor’s office in an announcement Tuesday did not provide a list of names of those included on the list, a state corrections website shows Bell was issued a voting pardon.
Bell, a former Black Liberation Army member who served about 40 years for the killing of two cops, was recently released from prison after the controversial decision by a Parole Board to set him free. The decision was blasted by law enforcement and Republican lawmakers.
Cuomo has said he disagreed with the decision to grant Bell parole, but Tuesday’s announcement set off a new wave of outrage.
“Herman Bell is a killer. The governor and his parole board allowed a three-time murderer to go free. The truth is Herman Bell should have been killed by the police when he was apprehended years ago and we would not be discussing him now,” said Ed Mullins, president of the sergeants’ union.
The Cuomo administration has said the executive order the governor signed in April covers anyone who is out on parole and in good standing, and that anyone who meets the criteria is automatically processed.
Cuomo when announcing his executive order said that New York was following 14 other states and the District of Columbia in restoring voting rights to people upon their release from prison. Two other states never take them away.