Grisanti co-sponsors 'Jackie's Law'

State Sen. Mark Grisanti, R-I-60, offered the following statement Wednesday:

"I am proud to be a co-sponsor of 'Jackie's Law' in the New York State Senate. Now, with bipartisan support, this piece of legislation has a realty of passing the New York State Senate.

Installing a GPS device is a form of stalking that must be stopped. With the introduction of new technology, our laws must be changed to keep up with criminals in order to protect victims of domestic violence and other related crimes."

The proposed legislation will update the State's penal code under "Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree" to include GPS tracking devices. Under the current laws, it is not illegal to put a GPS tracking device on someone's vehicle without their consent - even if it is for the purposes of stalking. Under "Jackie's Law," it will become a class E felony with violators facing up to four years in jail.

Grisanti currently represents the 60th Senate District, which includes parts of the City of Buffalo, the northtowns and the southtowns. Grisanti is chairman of the Environmental Conservation Committee and currently sits on the finance, cities, cultural affairs, tourism, parks and recreation, higher education, infrastructure and capital investment, insurance, labor and veterans, homeland security and military affairs committees in the Senate, as well as the MS Legislative Alliance for the Senate.