NY State Senate Bill S6840

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed/Vetoed by Governor

Your Voice

Please enter your contact information

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

A valid email address is required.

Home address search or enter your address manually *

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Leave this field blank

Actions

view actions (2)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to codes
Nov 08, 2019	referred to rules

Co-Sponsors

view additional co-sponsors

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §510.10, CP L

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to setting bail for defendants that pose a current physical threat to public safety.

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S6840

SPONSOR: SERINO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to setting bail
for defendants that pose a threat to public safety

 
PURPOSE:

To allow greater judicial discretion in setting a securing order with
respect to the dangerousness of a defendant.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends subdivision 1 of section 510.10 of the criminal proce-
dure law to allow a court to make an individualized determination
regarding the danger a defendant poses to the safety of any crime
victim, person or community

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Currently, except for certain qualifying offenses, courts must release
defendants on their own recognizance pending trial, unless it is demon-
strated and the court makes an individualized determination that the
defendant poses a risk of flight to avoid prosecution, however the court
may not consider the dangerousness of such defendant.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In United State v. Salerno, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts
could detain arrestees pretrial if said individual could be proved to be
a threat to others in the community. Including New York, only four
states do not allow judges to consider the dangerousness of a defendant
when setting a securing order. In light of recent reforms that eliminate
the ability of judges to establish securing orders for most offenses, it
is critical that judges be allowed to weigh the threat a defendant poses
to victims or others in the community. Once these bail reforms go into
effect, crimes such as assault in the third degree, manslaughter in the
second degree, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds,
promoting a sexual performance by a child, failure to register as a sex
offender, and other heinous acts will no longer qualify for bail in the
state and the defendant will be released back into the community to
await their trial date.

When California became the first state in the country to eliminate cash
bail, they provided for safeguards to ensure the protection of the
community, including allowing courts to order defendants to report to a
court officer or consent to monitoring such as ankle bracelets, as well
as allowing preventive detention for those the court deems too dangerous
to release.

Unfortunately, the reforms passed in the 2019-2020 New York State Budget
did not include any such safeguards. This legislation would rectify this
troubling issue and grant New York courts the ability to better protect
our communities by allowing them to consider the dangerousness of a
defendant when setting a securing order.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as
section 2 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, takes effect.

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  6840

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            November 8, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sens. SERINO, GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to setting  bail
  for defendants that pose a threat to public safety

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 510.10 of the  criminal  procedure
law,  as  amended  by section 2 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of the laws of
2019, is amended to read as follows:
  1. When a principal, whose  future  court  attendance  at  a  criminal
action or proceeding is or may be required, comes under the control of a
court,  such  court  shall, in accordance with this title, by a securing
order release the principal on the principal's own recognizance, release
the principal under non-monetary conditions, or, where  authorized,  fix
bail  or commit the principal to the custody of the sheriff. In all such
cases, except where another type  of  securing  order  is  shown  to  be
required  by law, the court shall release the principal pending trial on
the principal's own recognizance, unless  it  is  demonstrated  and  the
court  makes  an individualized determination that the principal poses a
risk of flight to avoid prosecution OR IT IS DEMONSTRATED AND THE  COURT
MAKES AN INDIVIDUALIZED DETERMINATION THAT THE PRINCIPAL POSES A CURRENT
PHYSICAL  DANGER TO THE SAFETY OF ANY CRIME VICTIM, PERSON OR THE COMMU-
NITY. [If such a finding is  made,  the  court  must  select  the  least
restrictive alternative and condition or conditions that will reasonably
assure  the  principal's  return  to court.] The court shall explain its
choice of release, release with conditions, bail or remand on the record
or in writing.
  § 2. This act shall take effect on the  same  date  and  in  the  same
manner as section 2 of part JJJ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, takes
effect.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD13954-03-9

Comments

Open Legislation comments facilitate discussion of New York State legislation. All comments are subject to moderation. Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity or hate speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday.

By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

The New York State Senate

senate Bill S6840

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Details

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S6840

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Co-Sponsors

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Details

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S6840 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments