NY State Senate Bill S7930

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Introduced
In Committee
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Actions

view actions (6)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jul 22, 2020	referred to children and families delivered to assembly passed senate
Jul 21, 2020	ordered to third reading cal.836
Jul 20, 2020	reported and committed to rules
Mar 03, 2020	referred to children and families

Votes

view votes

Jul 22, 2020 - floor Vote

S7930

floor

Aye

Nay

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Jul 21, 2020 - Rules committee Vote

S7930

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Jul 20, 2020 - Children and Families committee Vote

S7930

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Co-Sponsors

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10141
Current Committee:: Assembly Children And Families
Law Section:: Family Court Act
Laws Affected:: Amd §§712, 732, 773 & 1012, Fam Ct Act
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S2737, A5873

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Eliminates the use of the term "incorrigible".

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S7930

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the family court act, in relation to eliminating the use
of the term incorrigible

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill is intended to eliminate the stigma of being labelled as
"incorrigible" in Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS) proceedings.
This is a term that, at least, implicitly and in practice singles out
girls of color for not matching expectations of stereotypical "feminine"
behavior and labels them as "uncorrectable" or unreformable".

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 712 of the Family Court Act by deleting the
word "incorrigible".

Section 2 amends section 732 of the Family Court Act by deleting the
word "incorrigible".

Section 3 amends section 773 of the Family Court Act by deleting the
phrase "for incorrigibility" and making other conforming changes.

Section 4 amends section 1012 of the Family Court Act by deleting the
word "incorrigible".

Section 5 provides that this Act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The use of the word "incorrigible" in the context of family or chil-
dren's courts dates back to the first juvenile court in Chicago in the
late 1800's. It was adopted in New York when the first Children's Courts
were established in the early 20th century and has carried over in each
iteration of our juvenile or family court system since that time. Prima-
rily applied to girls, and disproportionately to girls of color, this
term - in practice - tends to single out girls of color for behaviors
that do not match stereotypical feminine behavior. "Incorrigible" is
defined as a person who is "incapable of being corrected . . not reform-
able" (Merriam-Webster) and, thus this term is completely out of line
with the current understanding of the goals of our Family Court system.
The approach now in our Family Court system and more generally is to
look for what is needed in order to help young people and to provide for
the needs of children, a goal that is at odds with defining a young
person as "incapable of being corrected."

Eliminating the use of this term would be a step forward for all young
people, particularly for girls and girls of color who have dispropor-
tionately been the subject of this archaic and harmful label.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This section shall take effect immediately.

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


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

                                  7930

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              March 3, 2020
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families

AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to eliminating the use
  of the term incorrigible

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

  Section 1. Subdivisions (a) and (c) of section 712 of the family court
act,  as  amended  by  section  1 of part K of chapter 56 of the laws of
2019, are amended to read as follows:
  (a) "Person in need of supervision". A person less than eighteen years
of age: (i) who does not attend school in accordance with the provisions
of part one of article sixty-five of the  education  law;  (ii)  who  is
[incorrigible,]  ungovernable  or  habitually disobedient and beyond the
lawful control of a parent or other person legally responsible for  such
child's  care,  or  other  lawful  authority;  (iii)  who  violates  the
provisions of: (1) section 221.05; or (2) 230.00 of the penal law;  (iv)
or  who appears to be a sexually exploited child as defined in paragraph
(a), (c) or (d) of subdivision one of section four hundred forty-seven-a
of the social services law, but only if the child consents to the filing
of a petition under this article.
  (c)  "Fact-finding  hearing".  A  hearing  to  determine  whether  the
respondent did the acts alleged to show that he or she violated a law or
is [incorrigible,] ungovernable or habitually disobedient and beyond the
control of his or her parents, guardian or legal custodian.
  §  2.  Paragraph  (i)  of subdivision (a) of section 732 of the family
court act, as amended by section 9 of part G of chapter 58 of  the  laws
of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
  (i)  the  respondent is an habitual truant or is [incorrigible,] ungo-
vernable[,] or habitually disobedient and beyond the lawful  control  of
his or her parents, guardian or lawful custodian, or has been the victim
of  sexual  exploitation  as  defined in subdivision one of section four
hundred forty-seven-a of the social services  law,  and  specifying  the
acts  on  which  the  allegations  are based and the time and place they
allegedly occurred. Where habitual truancy is alleged or the  petitioner

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD15669-01-0

S. 7930                             2

is  a  school  district  or local educational agency, the petition shall
also include the steps taken by the responsible school district or local
educational agency to improve the school attendance  and/or  conduct  of
the respondent;
  § 3. Section 773 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 920 of
the laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:
  §  773. Petition for transfer [for incorrigibility].  Any institution,
society or agency in which a  person  was  placed  under  section  seven
hundred  fifty-six  OF THIS ARTICLE may petition to the court which made
the order of placement for transfer of that person to a society or agen-
cy, governed or controlled by persons of the  same  religious  faith  or
persuasion as that of the child, where practicable, or, if not practica-
ble,  to  some  other  suitable  institution,  or to some other suitable
institution on the ground that [such person]
  (a) [is incorrigible and that his or her] THE presence OF SUCH  PERSON
is  seriously  detrimental  to the welfare of the applicant institution,
society, agency or other persons in its care, or
  (b) after placement by the court, SUCH PERSON was released  on  parole
or  probation  from  such  institution,  society or agency and a term or
condition of the release was willfully violated. The petition  shall  be
verified  by  an officer of the applicant institution, society or agency
and shall specify the act  or  acts  bringing  the  person  within  this
section.
  § 4. Subdivision (h) of section 1012 of the family court act, as added
by chapter 1015 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
  (h)  "Impairment  of  emotional  health"  and "impairment of mental or
emotional  condition"  includes  a  state  of  substantially  diminished
psychological or intellectual functioning in relation to, but not limit-
ed to, such factors as failure to thrive, control of aggressive or self-
destructive  impulses,  ability  to  think  and reason, or acting out or
misbehavior, including [incorrigibility,]  ungovernability  or  habitual
truancy; provided, however, that such impairment must be clearly attrib-
utable to the unwillingness or inability of the respondent to exercise a
minimum degree of care toward the child.
  § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S7930

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

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Votes

Jul 22, 2020 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jul 22, 2020

Jul 21, 2020 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jul 21, 2020

Jul 20, 2020 - Children and Families committee Vote

Children and Families Committee Vote: Jul 20, 2020

Co-Sponsors

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Details

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S7930

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Sponsored By

Julia Salazar

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jul 22, 2020 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jul 22, 2020

Jul 21, 2020 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jul 21, 2020

Jul 20, 2020 - Children and Families committee Vote

Children and Families Committee Vote: Jul 20, 2020

Co-Sponsors

Alessandra Biaggi

Liz Krueger

John C. Liu

Rachel May

Zellnor Myrie

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Details

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S7930 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments