Fate of Senator Monserrate in the Hands of Special Senate Committee

Statement by Marcia A. Pappas, President of NOW-NYS

The National Organization for Women-NYS learned on December 4th that NY State Senator Hiram Monserrate received a two-hundred-fifty-hour community-service sentence and three years' probation. He must also participate in a fifty two-week treatment program. According to current law, the sentence could have and should have included a year in prison.

Apparently Justice William M. Erlbaum lacked the fortitude to put Monserrate away for a year. Now it's up the Special Senate Committee, chaired by Senator Eric Schneiderman, to oust this perpetrator of domestic violence. It will take courage by the members of the Special Committee to do the right thing.

According to reports, Justice Erlbaum remarked: "He doesn't get a break. He doesn't get a handout. He gets what any other person gets in this situation." Not true, Justice Erlbaum. You could have sent a strong message to the women of New York State by going one step farther and giving Monserrate a year in prison for slashing his girlfriend's face to inflict such a severe wound that she needed forty stitches. Indeed, a year in prison might have done Monserrate some good. To sit and stew for three-hundred-sixty-five days might have given him something to think about. But now he enjoys the privilege of walking free.

As advocates for victims of domestic violence, we are appalled to hear that Justice Erlbaum asked the victim, "What, Karla Giraldo, are you?" Apparently he wondered if she were a submissive or assertive woman. We say, "Justice Erlbaum, if it's not too late, perhaps you could join Monserrate in that fifty-two-week treatment program?" This inappropriate question basically chastised the victim, surely the last thing she needed. Thankfully Erlbaum continued the order of protection. Maybe this will provide time for the victim to seek help, which may be what she needs.

We strongly urge the Special Senate Committee to take the courageous step of removing Senator Monserrate from his position as NY Senator. He must not be given the honor of voting on important legislation that will affect the lives of millions of women.