NY State Senate Bill 2017-S4484

Senate Bill S4484

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Authorizes a sentence of conditional discharge pending completion of a substance abuse treatment program for first and second time drug possessors

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Feb 15, 2017	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

co-Sponsors

2017-S4484 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3612
Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Add §249-a, Exec L; amd §390.30, CP L; add §60.14, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S1270, A1677
2011-2012: S1508, A4841
2013-2014: S1870, A2662
2015-2016: S982, A1642
2019-2020: S742, A4050
2021-2022: A2341
2023-2024: A1656

2017-S4484 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes imposition of a sentence of conditional discharge pending the completion of a substance abuse treatment program licensed by the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services and approved by the division of probation and correctional alternatives for first or second conviction of certain controlled substance possession or marihuana possession offenses provided such offender has no prior violent felony convictions.

2017-S4484 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4484

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the executive law, the criminal
procedure law and the penal law, in relation to authorizing a sentence
of conditional discharge pending completion of a substance abuse
treatment program for first and second time drug offenders

 PURPOSE :

To provide the sentencing option of drug treatment to judges who must
sentence certain non-violent, low-level drug offenders.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends the Executive Law by adding a new section 249-a which
directs the State Director of Probation and Correctional Alternatives
to enter into agreements with residential treatment providers to
provide for the treatment and care of drug offenders who are sentenced
to substance abuse treatment pursuant to Penal Law § 60.14.  These
programs must be licensed by the Office of Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse Services and must be approved by the Division of Probation and
Correctional Alternatives.

Section 2 amends the Criminal Procedure Law § 390.30 to provide that a
pre-sentence investigation report shall include a listing of available
licensed substance abuse programs to provide treatment to offenders

who are eligible under Penal Law § 60.14.

Section 3 amends the Penal Law to add a new section 60.14, which
authorizes a sentence of conditional discharge, provided that the
offender agrees to attend and successfully complete a substance abuse
treatment program specified by the court. Eligible offenders are those
persons who stand convicted of criminal possession of a controlled
substance in the 5th and 7th degrees, or criminal possession of
marijuana in the 3rd degree, who have no more than one prior
conviction for such an offense,and who have no prior history of
violence.

The court retains jurisdiction over the individual while lie or she
undergoes treatment. Upon successful completion of the program, the
charge is dismissed. If the program is not successfully completed, the
conditional discharge is revoked and the offender is sentenced as if
convicted of the original charge.

 JUSTIFICATION :

New York State's drug laws are not cost effective because they have
led to prison overcrowding without enhancing public safety, and
because they have led to dramatic increases in prison spending. These
laws are inequitable because they hurt minority communities, and they
are unjust because they don't distinguish between a one-time drug
offender who is simply acting as a "mule" and a "drug kingpin."

Drug abuse is a terrible evil that has destroyed many lives. But the
failure of the law enforcement approach of the so-called "War on
Drugs" is evidenced by the many thousands of non-violent drug
offenders in our prisons, while drugs continue to be sold and used in
our communities.

New York must return to its justices the flexibility and discretion
and sentencing that they once used to treat persons with drug problems
as individuals. "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" and prison
construction may be politically popular, but it is fiscally
irresponsible to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders and
destructive to the communities that these offenders come from. A
recent study published by the Drug Policy Research Center of the RAND
Corporation concluded that long prison sentences cost more than drug
treatment, and do less to reduce drug consumption. The RAND study
demonstrates that we can do more to reduce drug-related violence and
drug consumption by mandating treatment rather than simply mandating
long prison sentences.

This legislation is designed to implement an approach that treats drug
abuse as a public health problem as opposed to a criminal justice
problem. It will permit the state to spend a fraction of that amount
on drug treatment programs. The savings can be used for many things,
including drug treatment prevention programs for children.

This bill targets non-violent offenders who are charged with simple
drug possession and low-level drug sales, and offers the sentencing
judge the opportunity to sentence these offenders to treatment instead
of prison. It does not alter the current penalties for high-level drug
possessors and drug dealers.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

1999-2000: S.3386 Died in Committee
2001-2002: S.1107 Died in Committee
2003-2004: S.1629 Died in Committee
2005-2006: S.1494 Died in Committee
2007-2008: S.2121 Died in Committee
2009-2010: S.1270 Died in Committee
2011-2012: S.1508 Died in Committee
2013-2014: S.1870 Died in Committee

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Undetermined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act will take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become law.

2017-S4484 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4484
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 15, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  MONTGOMERY,  COMRIE,  KRUEGER  --  read twice and
   ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
   Crime Victims, Crime and Correction
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend the executive law, the criminal procedure law and the
   penal law, in  relation  to  authorizing  a  sentence  of  conditional
   discharge  pending  completion  of a substance abuse treatment program
   for first and second time drug offenders
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 249-a
 to read as follows:
   § 249-A. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE  PROGRAMS  FOR  CERTAIN
 OFFENDERS.  1. THE DIRECTOR SHALL ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS WITH RESIDENTIAL
 SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE FOR THE CARE AND TREATMENT
 OF ELIGIBLE OFFENDERS SENTENCED PURSUANT TO SECTION 60.14 OF  THE  PENAL
 LAW.
   2.  SUCH  PROGRAMS  SHALL  BE LICENSED BY THE OFFICE OF ALCOHOLISM AND
 SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES AND  SHALL  BE  APPROVED  BY  THE  DIVISION  OF
 PROBATION AND CORRECTIONAL ALTERNATIVES.
   3.  UPON  THE  SATISFACTORY COMPLETION OF THE COURSE OF TREATMENT, THE
 ELIGIBLE OFFENDER SHALL HAVE THE COURT IMPOSED SENTENCE  OF  CONDITIONAL
 DISCHARGE TERMINATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 410.90
 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW.
   §  2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 390.30 of the criminal
 procedure law, as added by chapter 14 of the laws of 1985, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (a) The report of the pre-sentence investigation must contain an anal-
 ysis of as much of the information gathered in the investigation as  the
 agency  that  conducted the investigation deems relevant to the question
 of sentence.  WHERE APPROPRIATE, THE REPORT SHALL  INCLUDE  A  TREATMENT
 PLAN  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO  A  LISTING OF AVAILABLE LICENSED
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD08140-02-7

 S. 4484                             2
 
 SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE FOR THE CARE AND TREATMENT OF OFFEN-
 DERS SENTENCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF
 SECTION  60.14 OF THE PENAL LAW.  The report must also include any other
 [imformation]  INFORMATION that the court directs to be included and the
 material required by paragraph (b) of this subdivision  which  shall  be
 considered part of the report.
   § 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 60.14 to read as
 follows:
 §  60.14  AUTHORIZED  DEPOSITIONS;  CRIMINAL  POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED
             SUBSTANCE.
   1. THE SENTENCE OF ANY PERSON CONVICTED  OF  A  VIOLATION  OF  SECTION
 220.03 OF THIS CHAPTER, CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN
 THE  SEVENTH DEGREE, SECTION 220.06 OF THIS CHAPTER, CRIMINAL POSSESSION
 OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN THE FIFTH DEGREE, OR SECTION 221.20 OF THIS
 CHAPTER, CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF  MARIHUANA  IN  THE  THIRD  DEGREE,  FOR
 EITHER  THE  FIRST OR SECOND TIME WHO HAS NO PRIOR CONVICTION FOR ANY OF
 THE OTHER PROVISIONS  OF ARTICLE TWO HUNDRED TWENTY OF THIS CHAPTER  AND
 ALSO  HAS  NO  PRIOR  VIOLENT  FELONY  CONVICTION SHALL BE CONDITIONALLY
 DISCHARGED PROVIDED SUCH  PERSON  AGREES  TO  ATTEND,  AND  SUCCESSFULLY
 COMPLETES  AN  ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT APPROVED
 IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION TWO HUNDRED  FORTY-NINE-A  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE
 LAW.
   2.  THE  COURT  SHALL IMPOSE SUCH A SENTENCE ON THE CONDITION THAT THE
 OFFENDER PARTICIPATE IN A SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE  PROGRAM
 FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME AS DETERMINED BY THE COURT.
   3. UPON COMPLETION OF A COURSE OF TREATMENT, THE COURT SHALL TERMINATE
 THE  SENTENCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 410.90 OF THE
 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW.  IF  THE  COURT  DETERMINES  THAT  THE  OFFENDER
 ABSCONDED FROM THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM OR THAT
 THE  SENTENCE  IS  NO  LONGER  SUITABLE BECAUSE IT ENDANGERS THE SAFETY,
 SECURITY OR ORDER OF SUCH TREATMENT FACILITY OR THAT THE OFFENDER OTHER-
 WISE VIOLATES THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE SENTENCE, THE SENTENCE MAY
 BE REVOKED. UPON REVOCATION, THE OFFENDER SHALL BE SENTENCED IN  ACCORD-
 ANCE  WITH  THE  OTHER  PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER APPLICABLE TO PERSONS
 CONVICTED OF CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE  OR  CRIMINAL
 POSSESSION OF MARIHUANA, AS THE CASE MAY BE.
   4.  THE  COURT SHALL CONDUCT AN ONGOING EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM. THE
 COURT SHALL UNDERTAKE  STUDIES  IN  CONJUNCTION  WITH  THE  DIVISION  OF
 PROBATION  AND CORRECTIONAL ALTERNATIVES, THE DIVISION OF PAROLE AND THE
 OFFICE OF ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES  TO  ENSURE  THAT  THE
 PROGRAMMATIC OBJECTIVES ARE MET.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S4484

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