News and Notices from Local Elected Officials

Congressman Vito Fossella (R-NY13, above) has been recognized by the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) for receiving a perfect score on the group’s interim congressional report card for the 110th Congress.

Fossella said, “With a new case of breast cancer being diagnosed every two minutes and a woman dying from the disease every 13 minutes, we must continue to pursue new research to help scientists and doctors better understand what causes breast cancer and new ways to fight it. Working with the NBCC and other advocates, we are making progress in developing new methods to prevent, cure and eradicate breast cancer.�

Elizabeth Wohl, New York State Field Coordinator for the NBCC, said, “I want to express my appreciation for Representative Fossella’s leadership and dedication in helping NBCC achieve its goal of eradicating breast cancer.�

The NBCC rated Members of Congress on the group’s priorities for the first half of the 110th Congress, including both specific legislation and public policies for which no legislation has yet been introduced. The rating scores Members of Congress on their support of NBCC’s priorities.

Fossella joined with NBCC in 2005 in Bay Ridge to announce his support for legislation, The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (H.R. 2231), which would direct $30 million over five years for a large-scale study into the possible link between environmental factors and the development of breast cancer. Fossella cosponsored the bill in response to an American Cancer Society report that revealed breast cancer accounted for more than 10 percent (171 out of 1,106) of new cases of cancer in Bay Ridge in 2004.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American women and the leading cause of cancer death for women worldwide. Approximately three million women in the United States are living with breast cancer (of which two million have been diagnosed and an estimated one million that do not yet know that they have the disease.) It is estimated that 240,510 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States this year, and 40,000 American women will die of this disease.

Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) announced Assembly passage of a bill she sponsored that will redefine domestic violence laws by allowing unrelated people to seek a civil order of protection (A.6060). This legislation will extend to non-family members and those currently or formerly in intimate relationships, the same protections afforded family members in the 1994 Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act.

“Having worked with women and families affected by domestic violence, I know that victims are frequently unrelated — they’re often people who are dating. This legislation will bring New York up to speed and offer essential protection for these neglected victims,� said Hyer-Spencer, a former legal director of My Sisters’ Place, a non-profit organization that helps victims of domestic violence.

Although unrelated people have been eligible for state-funded domestic violence services since the passage of the Domestic Violence Prevention and Services Act in 1987, under current law they cannot obtain a civil order of protection. New York is the only state in the nation that makes this distinction. Data gathered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence indicate that as many as half of New York’s domestic violence victims are unrelated and therefore offered limited recourse. “This common-sense amendment will help safeguard victims and prevent future incidents,� Hyer-Spencer said.

Assemblywoman Hyer-Spencer also announced she is sponsoring an Assembly bill to add 39 new Family Court judgeships throughout the state, including seven more for New York City in both 2009 and 2010 (A.10615).

The fact that there are not enough judges often leads to cases not being heard in a timely manner, which is not in the best interest of the children, according to Hyer-Spencer. “My legal work continues to focus on pro bono cases for women and children — and my firsthand experience dealing with Family Court has shown me that there is a problem that needs to be dealt with,� Hyer-Spencer said. “Something must be done in order to ensure that the safety and well-being of our children is being suitably addressed. We need to do all we can to prevent future unnecessary tragedies from happening.�

In the wake of the body-parts trial in which Christopher Aldorasi was convicted this week and the earlier guilty plea of the scheme’s mastermind, Michael Mastromarino, State Senator Martin Golden (R-C, Brooklyn) is now urging New York lawmakers to ban all sales of body parts.

While it has always been illegal to secretly harvest the bones and tissues from corpses without the person having given consent when alive, which is what Mastromarino and Aldorasi did, Golden and other legislators want to instill a flat ban on all sales and purchases of any body parts in the state of New York.

“Amid scandals involving the illegal buying, selling and distribution of human tissue by funeral homes and licensed biomedical companies, deficiencies in the current law have become increasingly apparent,� said Golden, R-Brooklyn. “Yesterday’s verdict by Judge [Albert] Tomei sends a message that this will no longer be tolerated in New York State.�

Mastromarino and Aldorasi both face decades in prison for the multimillion-dollar scheme, which most notably stole body parts from former “Masterpiece Theatre� host Alistair Cooke. The often-diseased parts were then sold for use in disk replacements, knee operations and dental implants in the United States and Canada. Mastromarino, a former dentist, was the mastermind behind the illegal enterprise, while Aldorasi and two others charged were the cutters who carved up the corpses.

“New York’s families have been forced to suffer even greater hardship at the most difficult of times because of this unconscionable practice. Removing tissue, skin, organs and bones from bodies before embalming without the permission of the deceased’s family, and then selling the tissue illegally, must not continue to go on here in New York,� said Golden.

Senator Golden is calling on the New York State Assembly to join the New York State Senate in its efforts to amend the public health law to prohibit the sale and purchase of human body parts. The legislation, S.209, sponsored by Golden, would make the sale of body parts a class-E felony.

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