ALBANY – Critics of Gov. Cuomo’s clemency grant to former Black Liberation Army member Judith Clark called on the state Parole Board Monday to take the unusual step of rejecting the governor’s action to keep her behind bars.
Cuomo announced last month that he was commuting the sentence of Clark, who was sentenced to 75 years-to-life for her role in the 1981 armored truck robbery in Nyack, N.Y., that resulted in the deaths of two cops and a security guard.
“She has never cooperated,” said Assemblyman Al Graf (R-Long Island), a retired member of the NYPD and one of several state legislators with law enforcement backgrounds demanding Clark not be released.
The parole hearing is likely to take place in March, said Republican state Sen. Pat Gallivan, former sheriff of Erie County.
State Sen. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn), also a retired NYPD officer, said that more than 100,000 New York State law enforcement personnel are behind the push to deny parole.
They have set up an online petition, noparoleforjudithclark.com, to draw more support.
“It would be extremely disheartening to see her granted parole,” said Sen. Fred Akshar, a Binghamton-area Republican who served as an undersheriff.
At a press conference, Rockland County Detective Lt. James Stewart described responding to the scene and said that Clark was reaching for a high-powered weapon when she was caught and that she was standing on a patch of grass “when and where” the fatal shots were fired.
Cuomo has defended his decision, saying Clark appears remorseful.
But Nyack Police officer John Hanchar, a nephew of one of the dead cops, said she hasn’t proven that by cooperating.
“There were other accomplices who were involved that were never caught,” he said. “She knows who they are and she refuses to come forward.”
“This has ripped the skin right off the wound,” said Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco.
Robert Dennison, a former State Parole Commission Chairman in the the Pataki administration defended the move to set Clark free despite her 75-year sentence.
“I have spoken to thousands of inmates and I can unequivocally say that no one is more deserving of parole than Judy Clark,” he said. “She possess all the qualities the board looks for: Complete acceptance of responsibility for her crime, remorse, regret and total rehabilitation.”