Despite the state’s escalating crime rate, New York Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled a state measure that would change all occurrences of “salesman” to “salesperson” in state regulations.
With the total rate in New York City rising by 36%, the current bail regulations in New York do not compel anybody arrested for a nonviolent crime or misdemeanour to pay a cash bond in order to be released.
In addition, all occurrences of “his” or “her” will now be changed with “their” in all legislation pertaining to the real estate sector.
The decision was justified by state senator Anna Kaplan, who co-sponsored the legislation with senators Alessandra Biaggi, Samra G. Brouk, James Gaughran, and Robert Jackson.
Unfortunately, Kaplan said, many of our state’s laws still refer to occupations that are done by individuals of both genders in a gendered manner.
The legislation is a result of recent changes made to state statutes, which now refer to those who are jailed as “incarcerated persons” instead of “inmates.”
Advocates for prison reform claim that the word “inmate” has a demeaning impact.
State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat and the bill’s author, argued that “language counts.”
“This is another tangible step our state is taking to transform our criminal justice system into one that emphasises rehabilitation, rather than depending primarily on punishment,” the governor said.
In the city, homicides are down 10.5%, while robberies are up 39.7% from 7,642 to 10,677 incidents in 2022. Of all crimes, grand larceny has seen the most rise, increasing by 47.6 percent.
Other cities have also seen an upsurge in violence, such as Rochester and Syracuse, where fatal shootings have increased by 26.1 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Even smaller towns like Troy and Binghamton have been affected by the increase, where gunshots have increased by 100% and 80%, respectively.
The language modification is the most recent in a long line of state legislative amendments to outmoded or objectionable state law provisions.
Hochul signed a bill last month that substitutes “developmentally impaired” for the terms “mentally retarded” or other variants in state law.
The legislature enacted a bill in 2018 to replace all occurrences of the terms “fireman” and “policeman” in official documents and statutes with gender-neutral equivalents like “firefighter” or “police officer”.
Former governor Andrew Cuomo signed a similar bill in 2021 to change the term “inmate” in a number of other state legislation.
As have other Republicans running for Congress, Hochul’s opponent in the race for governor, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, has made the fear of crime a key part of his campaign.
According to Hochul, social fairness and safety may coexist.
According to a statement she released, “By treating all New Yorkers with decency and respect, we can enhance public safety while ensuring New Yorkers have a fair opportunity at a second chance.”