New York has a crime problem. Subway stabbings. Random attacks on tourists. Smash-and-grabs so brazen the criminals wave at the security cameras on their way out. So naturally, the geniuses in Albany surveyed this landscape of chaos and thought, “You know what would really fix things? Letting serial killers out of prison.” Two bills currently moving through the New York legislature could free some of the most notorious convicted murderers in American history — including David Berkowitz. The Son of Sam. The guy who terrorized New York City in 1977, shooting people in parked cars because a demon dog told him to.
Sleep tight, Manhattan. The demon dog whisperer might be your neighbor by Christmas.
Let’s be clear about what we’re dealing with here. David Berkowitz murdered six people and wounded seven others during a killing spree that paralyzed the largest city in America. He shot young women sitting in cars. He shot couples on dates. He wrote taunting letters to police and newspapers. He claimed a demon spoke to him through his neighbor’s dog. And now, nearly fifty years later, a group of progressive legislators in Albany have decided he deserves another chance.
The bills are being pushed under the banner of “criminal justice reform” — which, in New York, has become a phrase that means “whatever makes criminals happier.” The logic, if you can call it that, goes something like this: People change. Rehabilitation works. Even the worst offenders deserve a path to freedom if they’ve shown growth.
Growth. David Berkowitz has shown growth. The man who called himself the Son of Sam and claimed Satan commanded him to kill has apparently grown as a person. Well isn’t that just heartwarming.
Here’s what these bills would actually do. They’d create pathways for elderly and long-serving inmates — including those convicted of the most heinous crimes imaginable — to petition for release. The criteria are deliberately vague and subjective. Have you been a good prisoner? Have you expressed remorse? Have you found Jesus, or at least told a parole board you did? Congratulations, here are your walking papers.
Now, we need to talk about what this means for the victims. The families of the six people Berkowitz murdered don’t get their loved ones back. The seven people he shot and permanently scarred don’t get to un-live that trauma. The entire city of New York that spent the summer of 1977 in absolute terror doesn’t get those months of fear erased. But sure — let’s talk about the KILLER’S growth journey.
This is what progressive criminal justice has become. It’s not about justice. It’s not about public safety. It’s not even about rehabilitation in any meaningful sense. It’s about a philosophical position that says punishment itself is the problem. That keeping dangerous people away from innocent people is somehow cruel. That the rights of a serial murderer to enjoy his golden years in freedom outweigh your right to not get shot by a lunatic who thinks dogs are demons.
And Berkowitz isn’t even the only one. These bills could open the doors for multiple notorious killers. The progressive stack in Albany apparently looked at their state’s roster of the absolute worst human beings ever convicted and thought, “These guys have been in there long enough.”
Long enough? For MURDER? For SERIAL murder? There is no “long enough” for taking six lives. There is no sentence that’s served enough time when you terrorized millions of people. The whole point of a life sentence is that it lasts for LIFE. It’s right there in the name.
But this is New York we’re talking about. The same state that eliminated cash bail and watched crime explode. The same state that let violent felons walk out of court on the same day they were arrested. The same state where DA Alvin Bragg treats shoplifting like a parking ticket and prosecutes political opponents like they’re war criminals. Of course they want to free serial killers. It’s the logical next step in a philosophy that sees criminals as victims and victims as acceptable collateral.
Let’s zoom out for a second. Think about where we are as a country. In states run by progressives, you can now steal up to a thousand dollars without consequence. You can assault someone on the subway and be back on the platform by dinner. You can deal fentanyl and get diversion instead of prison. And now — NOW — you might be able to commit serial murder and still walk free if you wait long enough and say the right things to a parole board.
Meanwhile, if you’re a law-abiding citizen in New York who wants to own a firearm to protect yourself from all these people they keep releasing? Good luck navigating the seventeen permits and background checks they’ll put you through.
The priorities are crystal clear. Criminals get sympathy. Victims get forgotten. And legislators get to feel morally superior while the people they represent lock their doors a little tighter at night.
To the good people still living in New York: We see what they’re doing to you. We see a political class that cares more about the comfort of convicted serial killers than the safety of the families walking past their potential future apartment. Get out if you can. Vote them out if you can’t.
And to Albany: The Son of Sam stays in prison. End of discussion. The fact that this even needs to be said tells you everything about where the Democratic Party’s head is at in 2026.