Sweeney Defends Handling of Jessica’s Law on the O’Reilly Factor (VIDEO)

In case you’ve missed it back on July 26th, Save Jerseyans, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly went after New Jersey’s Senate President Steve Sweeney hammer-and-tong on national television.

Bill’s beef was Senator Sweeney’s perceived “cowardly” refusal to move the “Jessica Lunsford Act” through the New Jersey State Senate. Jessica’s Law is already on the books in most U.S. jurisdictions; among other anti-sex offender provisions, the law imposes a mandatory 25 year-to-life prison term for aggravated sexual assault against a child under age 13.

The ambitious Sweeney must’ve recognized the opportunity which O’Reilly served up on a silver platter and voluntarily ventured into the dreaded “no-spin zone” this Wednesday evening to answer for himself. To summarize (watch the video below the fold for a full recap, or click here to read the transcript), Senator Sweeney pleaded ignorance regarding the bill’s seemingly endless slog through his chamber, pointing out that he didn’t run the Senate when the bill was first introduced in 2005. He also claimed to be the bill’s sponsor and pledged to ensure its speedy passage.

The most important thing is that the bill is finally advancing (or so he says), but much of what we do here at Save Jersey is keeping elected officials honest! So let’s set the record straight…

Republican State Senator Diane Allen introduced S2594, “Jessica Lunsford Act,” back in 2005. It was reintroduced by Senator Allen in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012, and is currently designated S380. Finally, on June 4, 2012, it was voted out of Senator Donald Norcross’s Senate Law and Public Safety Committee.

Steve Sweeney is right about at least one point: he wasn’t the Senate President in 2005. But he WAS, however, the upper chamber’s top dog when Jessica’s Law was introduced yet again, as S294, in January 2010. And he wasn’t the “sponsor” technically speaking. He was a co-sponsor; the primary sponsors were Allen and another Republican, Steven Oroho.

So why didn’t S294 move at all in 2010? Specifically, why didn’t it move out of committee in that session? And now that it is out of committee, why have two whole months transpired without having what should be a relatively easy floor debate and role call on this uncontroversial legislation?

Watch, and make up your own minds:

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8405 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

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