Albany

You might be surprised to learn that a 17-year-old contributed to a piece of legislation, recently introduced in the state Senate, that would ban killer whales from water parks and aquariums in the state.

The 17-year-old was surprised to learn about it, too.

Donald Julius Rapier, a junior at Chicago's Lindblom Math and Science Academy, was unaware that a paragraph from an opinion piece he had written had ended up in the "justification" memo of a bill introduced last week by state Sen. Greg Ball, a Hudson Valley Republican.

"In the United States, dolphin and marine animal parks, like SeaWorld, have become a part of an $8.4 billion industry," Rapier wrote in his article, which appeared on The Huffington Post website in early January. "Accustomed to living in the ocean, and having an infinite amount of space to swim in, dolphins and whales are actually faced with several health problems that shorten their life span and cause insanity when they are placed in captivity."

The same paragraph appears in Ball's bill — although a grammatically incorrect "place" has been substituted for "placed."

"At first I was shocked and kind of nervous, as I was second-guessing my own words," Rapier said Thursday in an email after being informed by a reporter of the copying. "I feel really happy that the bill was made, but I'm a little disappointed that they wouldn't reach out to me or even cite me.

"I don't think it's hard to put things in your own words," he said. " ... I hope they haven't plagiarized before."

In fact, the very next paragraph of the bill memo is lightly reworded from a recent article on the acclaimed documentary film "Blackfish," which focuses on a 2010 incident in which a SeaWorld Orlando trainer was killed by the park's largest killer whale.

"How bizarre," said freelancer Janet Kinosian, whose interview with "Blackfish" director Gabriela Cowperthwaite appeared in the Los Angeles Times in early December. "Why would anyone do such a thing?"

The third and final paragraph of the bill memo appears to be original work: "Killer whales are some of the largest and most intelligent mammals on this planet traveling hundreds of miles a day with their colonies. They should not be held in a bathtub-like environment made to perform meaningless tricks to entertain humans."

In response to questions about the bill and the borrowed prose — including whether the gleaning was accidental or the result of plagiarism — Ball's Communications Director Joe Bachmeier on Thursday asked for a description of the borrowed material. He then failed to either provide an explanation or respond to subsequent phone calls and emails.

Thursday morning, Ball's Chief of Staff Colin Schmitt issued a statement thanking the TU "for bringing this oversight to our attention concerning this inter-office document used to briefly summarize a bill. This simple yet sloppy action taken flies in the face of the high standards of our office. We have taken immediate and appropriate steps internally to address this oversight and address the staffer responsible.

"All memo language is being reviewed and will be corrected if necessary," Schmitt said.

On Wednesday, the bill was introduced in the Assembly by Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale. In an interview, Paulin said that she was unaware of the copied text in Ball's original bill; she noted that while she supports the legislation, she would be approving her own bill memo. The measures are now before the environmental conservation committees of both houses.

It's impossible to say if this sort of legislative cribbing is widespread.

"I don't think there's any rule against it — except basic ethics," said former Assemblyman Jack McEneny.

The Albany Democrat, who served with Ball before the Republican's jump to the Senate in 2011, noted that while the legal language of a proposed measure is crafted by the bill-drafting offices of each legislative chamber, the "justification" memo — essentially a brief promotional statement on the bill's merits — is provided by the sponsoring lawmaker's office.

"You can never put anything off on bill drafting, because (legislators) have final say," McEneny said. " ... Everything reflects on the lawmaker: The buck stops there."

The killer whale bill, which would prohibit "the possession and harboring of killer whales in aquariums and sea parks," appears to be largely symbolic. There are no such attractions anywhere in the state that feature killer whales, although MarineLand on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls still exhibits Kiska, its lone remaining orca. A female called Lupa was resident at the New York Aquarium in 1968, but died only a few months after her arrival.

Despite their qualms about seeing their work borrowed without attribution, both journalists who unknowingly contributed to Ball's bill said they supported his legislation.

"I'm glad they liked my article enough to use in a bill!" Rapier said.

cseiler@timesunion.com • 518-454-5619 • @CaseySeiler