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| Patricia's Law | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 23 2006, 12:43 PM (453 Views) | |
| Ell | Oct 23 2006, 12:43 PM Post #1 |
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Heart of Gold
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I couldn't move this so just copied it from Jim's post......In family member section ..the links will show in the original post On Oct. 19, 2006, a Press Conference was held in front in Jim Viola's home to announce the Introduction of new Missing Persons Legislation titled Bill S-2255 ("Patricia's Law") in the NJ Senate last week on 10/12/06. On hand for the Press Conference were Jim Viola, Sen. Loretta Weinberg (District 37 - Sponsor), Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle, Mr. William Galda (First Assistant Prosecuter), Mr Rocco Mazza from Sen. Weinberg's office, Bermari Roig-Eichler (Sen. Weinberg's Legislative Director), Captain Michael Brophy (Bogota PD), Detective James Sepp (Bogota PD), Chief Frank Gurnaci (Bogota PD), Micheal Feeney (Staff Writer, Bergen Record) with photographer. Even though the TV coverage was not there, we had an excellent exchange of information and promises. Everyone had an opportunity to speak and there is a tremendous amount of excitment about "Patricia's Law". Everyone that spoke was extremely proud to be a part of this much needed legislation. Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle has already committed to sponsor Patricia's Law on the Assembly side and will introduce it when they reconvene in November. They already have copies of it and the Senate and Assembly processes will run in parallel to speed things up. Sen. Weinberg commented that she "was proud that NJ was the first to retain sponsorship. She went on to say that they hope to pass Patricia's Law by the end of the year and maybe we can have the Governor return to this front lawn to sign it" Video and Audio Links to Press Conference below: Video (14.1MB - 10 minutes, 15 sec.)(Large file - recommend hi speed connection) Video of "Patricia's Law" Press Conference Audio (2MB - 4 min, 27 sec) - Jim discusses the history of Patricia's Law and it's progress. Audio of Jim Viola's Discussion of Patricia's Law from Press Conference Thanks for all the support. Jim http://www.patriciaviolamissing.homestead.com |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| Ell | Oct 26 2006, 04:08 PM Post #2 |
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Heart of Gold
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Missing woman's kin inspire bill Wednesday, October 25, 2006 By MICHAEL J. FEENEY SPECIAL TO THE RECORD BOGOTA -- More than five years after a 42-year-old borough woman went missing, her husband has joined forces with state and local officials to propose legislation geared toward improving how New Jersey agencies handle missing persons cases. State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, stood on the front lawn of Jim Viola's home recently to rally support for "Patricia's Law," legislation named for his wife that would enhance the system of notifying families of missing persons and work to improve procedures for identifying human remains that may help solve such cases. "It [the legislation] really sets up a lot more criteria when a person goes missing," Jim Viola said of the measure Weinberg introduced in the Legislature last week. "This law is going to give a lot of hope to families of the missing." Under the proposed legislation, law enforcement agencies must accept without delay any report of a missing person and cannot refuse to accept such reports, a provision designed to prevent individuals from being turned away when initially making such claims. By the numbers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Missing persons reported in New Jersey: 2000: 19,955 2001: 20,223 2002: 19,354 2003: 19,591 2004: 18,893 2005: 18,620 2006 (as of September): 13,208 • Number of active unsolved missing persons cases (since 2,000): 1,691 • 75 percent to 80 percent of reported missing persons are juveniles Source: New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit * * * ON THE WEB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Web site: Patricia Viola Missing The law would also require authorities to make the person filing a missing-persons report aware of two clearinghouses for such information -- the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Center for Missing Adults. Another component of the legislation requires medical examiners to work with the state police to speedily identify recovered bodies or body parts. New Jersey adds to the growing list of states embracing such legislation. Colorado, Wyoming and the District of Columbia have already passed laws bolstering procedures surrounding missing persons cases, and more than 25 states are considering similar measures, said Kelly Jolkowski, founder and president of ProjectJason.org, a non-profit missing persons organization. Weinberg said she was hopeful the Legislature would adopt the bill before year's end. "Maybe we will have the governor come back to this lawn to actually sign the bill," she said. Approximately 130,000 persons have been reported missing in New Jersey since 2000, according to the state police's Missing Persons Unit. About 1,700 of those cases remain unsolved, including Patricia Viola's. The homemaker, an epileptic, has not been seen since Feb. 13, 2001. She did not have her medication with her, according to authorities. Jim Viola, an engineer for Honeywell in Teterboro, has not lost hope that her case will be solved. The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Patricia Viola's whereabouts. "What's kept me so focused is that this is my wife and I have two kids," he said. "I'm determined to find my wife and their mother. There's no way I'm going to let her fade away." Viola still keeps a Valentine's Day gift bag that he bought before his wife's disappearance underneath the living room mantle. He hopes to one day give his wife the bag, which is filled with candy and cards from various holidays and birthdays she's missed. And Viola continues passing out 3-inch buttons with his wife's picture whenever he can. "I wear my button all the time," he said, standing in front of a table filled with pictures from their wedding, honeymoon and family vacations. "It's my way of saying I'm not giving up." The couple's two children, Christine, 19, and Michael, 15, who were 13 and 10 when their mother disappeared, have learned to cherish even the most mundane memories, such as going shopping and taking walks around their neighborhood. "It's hard not having her here, because I was so close to her," said Christine Viola, now herself a mother of a 3-month-old son, Amari. "Even though it's been almost six years, I don't think people should give up hope." http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...jd2cWVlRUV5eTM= |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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3:23 AM Jul 11