Jan 19, 2006 6:15 pm US/Eastern
'Nixzmary's Law' Has A Chance To Become Reality
Politicians Say Now Is The Time To Push Law Through
by Ti-Hua Chang
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
One day after little Nixzmary Brown was buried, Flushing assembly member Nettie Mayersohn along with two district attorneys reopened a seven-year battle to make killing your own child first-degree murder.
"I'm a grandmother and a mother," said Mayersohn, of New York's 27th District. "These crimes are an abomination against everything we believe."
In New York, first-degree murder applies if the victim is a law enforcement officer, or if the person enjoyed the killing using torture, along with 11 more categories. But none would have applied to Cesar Rodriquez, accused of torturing and killing his stepdaughter, Nixzmary.
The call now is for a new law where a parent or guardian killing the child they care for faces first-degree murder with punishment of 25 years to life in prison. District attorneys Dan Donovan of Staten Island and Charles Hynes of Brooklyn support this concept.
"What this does is end inequity giving a person the possibility of getting out of jail, while the child is buried in the ground," Hynes said.
Nixzmary's law is still not finalized. The cut-off age for the victim has not been set yet. It could be anywhere from 11 to 18. Bronx assembly member Naomi Rivera also supports the law, and said she wants to see more done by the Administration for Children's Services and it's commissioner.
"I'm disappointed that the commissioner, John Mattingly, would choose to scapegoat lower level employees," Rivera said, referring to the disciplinary action taken Wednesday against six ACS employees in the wake of Nixzmary's murder.
While it is probably going to be called Nixzmary's law, the sponsor of the bill noted it could, unfortunately, be named for many other children.
Like 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg, killed by her adoptive father Joel Steinberg. He was paroled after 15 years in jail.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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