The David Renz case has reached the house floor. Representative Dan Maffei urged his fellow lawmakers last night to end automatic spending cuts that would limit the Syracuse U.S. Probation Office from doing a better job deterring violent crimes. Judge Thomas Hogan, director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, believes the local probation office’s ineffectiveness is inexcusable, Maffei said in his speech.
“But he also says reduced resources, due to the sequester, is harming efforts to keep it from happening again. He continued that we are bracing for even larger reductions next year," said Maffei. "Mr. Speaker, an innocent woman was stabbed to death, an innocent child was sexually assaulted, and the answer from the courts is that their ability to keep it from happening again is limited because their funding was cut. This is unacceptable.”
The AO fired staff members of the Syracuse U.S. Probation Office, after the local agency failed to apprehend Renz for deactivating his anklet monitor almost 50 times. This negligence goes against federal policy. Maffei is calling for funding to support further investigation and more oversight.
Click here for the details of Maffei's speech.
