BILL NUMBER: S8646

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to personal phone calls
for inmates in certain circumstances

 
PURPOSE:

To allow state prison inmates entering solitary confinement in special
housing units (SHU) to make a telephone call upon admission into SHU and
at least once per month thereafter.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section I of the bill amends subdivision six of section 137 of the
correction law to allow an inmate to make a telephone call upon his or
her admission into solitary confinement, keeplock, and administrative
segregation and at least once per month thereafter.

              

Section II sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

There are approximately 4,000 inmates confined to a special housing unit
(SHU) within the state prison system as a result of disciplinary sanc-
tions. Currently, inmates being held in SHU on such sanctions are
confined to a cell for 23 hours per day, with an hour of outdoor recre-
ation in a fenced-in pen or cage, and lose other privileges including
access to telephone calls, personal property, packages and commissary.

SHU inmates are limited to one visit per week or may be prohibited from
receiving any visits. For a sanction which exceeds six months, inmates
are transferred to a dedicated SHU facility in either Chemung or Frank-
lin counties. Since these facilities are far from the urban and suburban
communities where most inmates' families reside, transfers often result
in few, or no, visits during an inmate's confinement. Visits have become
even less frequent since the elimination of the free bus program from
the state budget.

Solitary confinement has been found to be a form of torture by the UN
Special Rapporteur for Torture. There is a national movement to end the
excessive use of this form of disciplinary confinement in prisons. The
impact of solitary confinement on the family of an inmate is a signif-
icant burden in its own right. A parent, spouse or child of the inmate
often has no idea of what has happened to his or her loved one when
telephone calls suddenly cease.

While an inmate has a constitutional right to correspondence, there are
times when postage, paper and writing implements are not present, and
correspondence to and from the correctional facility may be delayed or
unreliable. Permitting inmates to make telephone calls upon admission
into SHU and at monthly intervals ensures that family members are not
left wondering what has happened to his or her loved one.

It is well documented that maintaining family relations improves inmate
behavior and safety within a facility and increases an inmate's likeli-
hood of success upon release. In order to ensure that punishment is not
excessive and counterproductive, this bill requires the Department of
Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to provide an inmate with
access to at least one phone call upon his or her admission into SHU,
and at monthly intervals thereafter.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

 
FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.