NY State Senate Bill 2019-S7651

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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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 04, 2020	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §259-i, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S2787
2023-2024: S4918
2025-2026: S5802

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to inmate interviews by the state board of parole; requires such parole board interviews of inmates to be conducted in person and in the correctional facility where such inmate is housed.

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7651

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to inmate interviews by
the state board of parole

 
PURPOSE:

To require in-person parole interviews instead of video interviews.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sections 1 and 2 amend Executive Law 259-i(2)(a)to require the board to
conduct in-person parole interviews inside correctional facilities.
Section 3 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Since 1997, most parole interviews have been conducted by videoconfer-
ence. Prior to that time, all interviews were in person inside of
correctional facilities. Videoconferencing was introduced to make the
system more efficient, but is in fact maximally inefficient. Three
parole board commissioners now drive from their home offices, usually in
different parts of the state, to a video conference center at a parole
office near the prison where the parole applicant is housed. For exam-
ple, a parole interview for a prisoner at Elmira Correctional Facility
may include a commissioner from Buffalo, a commissioner from Albany and
a commissioner from New York City, each traveling separately to a parole
office in Syracuse.

Inmate records are not digitalized so DOCCS employees must also travel
from the prisons where they work to the video conferencing sites, bring-
ing the applicants' paper records with them. The DOCCS employees, who,
unlike the commissioners, are paid time and a half for overtime if the
interviews extend past their normal shifts, stay with the records until
the commissioners have finished all their interviews for the day.
Reportedly, there is pressure on the commissioners to keep interviews
short so that DOCCS will not incur overtime charges. Commissioners may
interview 30-35 people in day, without breaks, trying to fit them all
into an 8-hour shift.

Parole commissioners generally use state cars to travel to the video
conference sites and stay overnight, or sometimes two nights, in hotels
near the parole offices where the videoconferencing equipment is set up.
There is no cost savings for travel to videoconferencing centers, since
they are going to the same areas where the prisoners are housed and
staying in hotels, just as they would if they actually traveled to the
prisons to interview prisoners. According to the Daily News, the Depart-
ment of Corrections spent approximately $270,000 over five years for
parole commissioner travel expenses, a number that would not change much
were the commissioners to travel to the prisons themselves rather than
the video conference centers. This is a negligible amount of money in a
3 billion dollar budget for the department, which would be more than
offset by eliminating travel by DOCCS employees to bring the records to
the commissioners.


Most importantly, the video interviews are dehumanizing and make prison-
ers uncomfortable and nervous. The parole applicants can only see one of
the three commissioners at a time on the video screens used by DOCCS. If
a commissioner bends down, or twists around, only his or her shoulders
may be visible on the screen. It is nearly impossible for either the
commissioners or the parole applicants to make eye contact or read body
language. The individuals seeking parole cannot tell what the off-camera
parole commissioners are doing during the interview. Since most people
who have been incarcerated for long sentences are not tech savvy, having
spent years or decades in a technology-free environment, they tend to be
uncomfortable with any use of technology, let alone the primitive video
conferencing used by the Board. It is difficult to build rapport, evalu-
ate demeanor or accurately assess a person's sincerity under the condi-
tions set up by the Board for video interviews. Both prisoners and
parole commissioners have expressed a strong preference for in-person
interviews.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  None or a slight savings

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This law shall take effect on year after the date on which it shall have
become a law; provided that the amendments to paragraph (a) of subdivi-
sion 2 of section 259-i of the executive law made by section two of this
act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision
pursuant to subdivision d of section 74 of chapter 3 of the laws of
1995, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of section three of
this act shall take effect.

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7651
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 4, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- 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, in relation to inmate  interviews  by
   the state board of parole
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subparagraph (i) of  paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision  2  of
 section  259-i  of  the  executive  law, as amended by section 38-f-1 of
 subpart A of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of  2011,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   (i)  Except  as  provided  in  subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, at
 least one month prior to the date on which  an  inmate  may  be  paroled
 pursuant  to subdivision one of section 70.40 of the penal law, a member
 or members as determined by the rules of the  board  shall  [personally]
 CONDUCT AN IN-PERSON interview OF such inmate IN THE CORRECTIONAL FACIL-
 ITY  WHERE HE OR SHE IS HOUSED and determine whether he OR SHE should be
 paroled in accordance with the guidelines adopted pursuant  to  subdivi-
 sion four of section two hundred fifty-nine-c of this article. If parole
 is not granted upon such review, the inmate shall be informed in writing
 within  two weeks of such appearance of the factors and reasons for such
 denial of parole. Such reasons shall be  given  in  detail  and  not  in
 conclusory  terms.  The board shall specify a date not more than twenty-
 four months from such determination for reconsideration, and the  proce-
 dures  to  be  followed  upon  reconsideration shall be the same. If the
 inmate is released, he OR SHE shall be given a copy of the conditions of
 parole. Such conditions shall where appropriate, include  a  requirement
 that the parolee comply with any restitution order, mandatory surcharge,
 sex offender registration fee and DNA databank fee previously imposed by
 a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction  that  applies to the parolee. The
 conditions shall indicate which  restitution  collection  agency  estab-
 lished  under subdivision eight of section 420.10 of the criminal proce-
 dure law, shall be responsible for collection of restitution,  mandatory
 surcharge,  sex  offender  registration  fees  and  DNA databank fees as
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14960-02-0

 S. 7651                             2
 
 provided for in section 60.35 of the  penal  law  and  section  eighteen
 hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law.
   §  2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 259-i of the executive
 law, as amended by section 38-f-2 of subpart A of part C of  chapter  62
 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   (a)  At  least one month prior to the expiration of the minimum period
 or periods of imprisonment fixed by the court  or  board,  a  member  or
 members  as  determined  by  the  rules  of the board shall [personally]
 CONDUCT AN IN-PERSON interview OF an  inmate  serving  an  indeterminate
 sentence  IN  THE  CORRECTIONAL  FACILITY  WHERE HE OR SHE IS HOUSED and
 determine whether he OR SHE should be paroled at the expiration  of  the
 minimum  period  or  periods  in  accordance with the procedures adopted
 pursuant to subdivision four of section two hundred fifty-nine-c OF THIS
 ARTICLE. If parole is not granted upon such review, the inmate shall  be
 informed  in  writing within two weeks of such appearance of the factors
 and reasons for such denial of parole. Such reasons shall  be  given  in
 detail  and  not in conclusory terms. The board shall specify a date not
 more than twenty-four months from  such  determination  for  reconsider-
 ation,  and  the procedures to be followed upon reconsideration shall be
 the same. If the inmate is released, he OR SHE shall be given a copy  of
 the  conditions  of  parole.  Such  conditions  shall where appropriate,
 include a requirement that the parolee comply with any restitution order
 and mandatory surcharge previously  imposed  by  a  court  of  competent
 jurisdiction  that applies to the parolee. The conditions shall indicate
 which restitution collection agency established under subdivision  eight
 of  section  420.10  of the criminal procedure law, shall be responsible
 for collection of restitution and mandatory surcharge as provided for in
 section 60.35 of the penal law and section eighteen hundred nine of  the
 vehicle and traffic law.
   §  3.  This  act shall take effect one year after the date on which it
 shall have become a law; provided, that the amendments to paragraph  (a)
 of  subdivision  2 of section 259-i of the executive law made by section
 one of this act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such
 subdivision pursuant to subdivision d of section 74 of chapter 3 of  the
 laws  of 1995, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of section
 two of this act shall take effect.

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Senate Bill S7651

Sponsored By

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

Actions

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

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Sponsored By

Luis R. Sepúlveda

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

Actions

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7651 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments