S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7593
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
May 10, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. N. RIVERA -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to requiring the depart-
ment of corrections and community supervision to place female inmates
at correctional institutions and facilities closest to their home
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds that in
order to improve the outcomes for women incarcerated in New York state
prisons and that in order to provide for a more stable family environ-
ment for the children of incarcerated mothers, there must be a clear
demonstration by government bureaucracies involved with correctional
services to provide the least restrictive environments for women prison-
ers so that they can remain in close proximity to their families and
children during their stay in state prison.
It is a well understood factor by health care professionals and social
workers that the ability of incarcerated mothers to maintain close and
constant contact with their family and children is a contributing factor
to rehabilitation and better re-integration into society once their
sentence is served.
Currently, over eighty-three percent of women in New York state pris-
ons were convicted of non-violent offenses. Yet their sentences incorpo-
rate a penalty not quantified in law but serves as an additional punish-
ment by placing the majority of these women in prison facilities an
unnecessarily long distance away from their families and children
Over five thousand two hundred New York children have mothers in pris-
on. For many of these children, seeing their mothers and scheduling
visitations is a hardship. They are forced to travel as far as eight
hour, one-way trips to see their mothers. For most this is an expense
and a hardship that rests on elderly family members and innocent chil-
dren.
It has been estimated that over ninety percent of incarcerated women
in New York have been the victims of sexual and/or physical abuse at
some point in their lives. Another forty-five percent have been diag-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11174-02-1
A. 7593 2
nosed with mental illness. Yet they are sentenced to facilities far from
their families and in a manner that is inconsistent with what research
and mental health care professionals tell us: That being close to family
and having access to family members is a factor in recovery from mental
illness and a contributor to better managing their illness.
It is clear women prisoners must be housed in correctional facilities
as close to their homes as possible and as administratively permissible
that in order to better meet the rehabilitation needs of incarcerated
mothers and to better meet the emotional and psychological needs of
their children. The continued costs to society of continuing to house
women prisoners long distances from their families and children can be
reduced significantly by better managing the placement of women prison-
ers at time of sentence and by the New York state department of
corrections and community supervision.
S 2. Section 158 of the correction law, as added by chapter 788 of the
laws of 1968, is amended to read as follows:
S 158. Designation of Place of Confinement. 1. The commissioner may
designate as a place of confinement of a prisoner any available, suit-
able and appropriate correctional institution or facility whether main-
tained by the city, state or federal government and may at any time
transfer a prisoner from one place of confinement to another. Where such
designation or transfer is to either a state or federal correctional
institution or facility, it shall be subject to the prior approval of
the appropriate person or agency having jurisdiction and control over
such facility and upon such terms and conditions as such person or agen-
cy deems appropriate.
2. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION,
THE COMMISSIONER SHALL DESIGNATE AS A PLACE OF CONFINEMENT OF A FEMALE
PRISONER, WHO HAS CHILDREN AND/OR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS HAVING A MENTAL
ILLNESS AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED OF THIS CHAPTER, THE CORREC-
TIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACILITY WHICH IS LOCATED IN CLOSEST PROXIMITY TO
THE FEMALE PRISONER'S HOME OR TO THE HOME OF HER CHILDREN, PROVIDED THAT
SUCH CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACILITY IS SUITABLE AND APPROPRIATE AS
DETERMINED BY THE COMMISSIONER, UNLESS SUCH FEMALE PRISONER HAS BEEN
IDENTIFIED AS HAVING A MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE COMMISSIONER DEEMS THAT
SUCH PLACEMENT WOULD POSE A THREAT TO THE FAMILY AND/OR CHILDREN OF SUCH
FEMALE PRISONER.
S 3. The commissioner of the department of corrections and community
supervision is authorized and directed to implement and finalize a proc-
ess to relocate female prisoners currently in the custody of the depart-
ment of corrections and community supervision to correctional insti-
tutions and facilities which are located in the closest proximity to the
female prisoner's home or the home of her children, within nine months
from the effective date of this section.
S 4. The commissioner of the department of corrections and community
supervision shall collect and maintain the following data from all pris-
oners:
1. marital status; and
2. whether such prisoner has children, and if so, who has custody of
such children.
S 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law, provided, however, that effective immediately, the
addition and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and
directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.