NY State Senate Bill S8244A

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

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

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Actions

view actions (4)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 24, 2020	committee discharged and committed to codes print number 8244a
May 24, 2020	amend and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
Apr 27, 2020	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

Original

A (Active)

S8244 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10386
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Correction Law
Laws Affected:: Add §807, Cor L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S2782
2023-2024: S1921

S8244 - Summary

Relates to establishing emergency release protocols during a time of crisis including during a state disaster emergency which places the lives, health or well-being of people in custody at risk.

S8244 - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S8244

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing emergen-
cy release protocols during a time of crisis

 
PURPOSE:

To authorize the department of corrections to release certain incarcer-
ated individuals in an emergency.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new section 807 to the correction law. Section 2
provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

COVID-19 hits hardest in dense population centers or clusters where
people gather in close proximity. We have all been told to keep at least
six feet away from other people, to wash our hands, clean door knobs and
other hard surfaces that people touch with anti-viral cleaning agents,
work from home, avoid all non-essential human contact. None of this is
possible in prisons where nearly all movement is group movement, and
where people live in open dorms with as many as 60 beds or in tiny cells
with poor ventilation. Hundreds of correctional staff and incarcerated
individuals have contracted the virus and, at the date of this writing,
ten people have died. The prison population is on average older and
sicker than the general population, so we can expect more deaths.

This bill, which would apply to any emergency situation in which lives
were in danger, gives permission to the Commissioner of DOCCS to order
parole release for people who are within two years of the end of their
sentences, who have a home to go, and who do not pose an unreasonable
public safety risk. Lowering the density of the prisons would allow
officers and incarcerated individuals to better deal with the disease,
to have more personal space, to be able to maintain order and hygiene.
It also mandates the parole release of pregnant women and women living
with children in prison nurseries, unless such women pose an exceptional
public safety risk. It further gives the commissioner the discretion to
release older people who have served at least half of their sentence; in
the current situation, those people are especially vulnerable to the
virus.

This bill would cut through red tape and would allow the decision to
release incarcerated individuals to rest with the Department, the agency
best suited to evaluate their dangerousness or suitability for release.
Clearly if an individual violates the conditions of his or her parole
release, he or she would be returned to prison.

This bill would allow the commissioner to release incarcerated individ-
uals in order to save the lives of the vulnerable and to reduce the
prison population in order to more efficiently and safely manage correc-
tional facilities at a time of crisis.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Will save the state money.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

S8244 - Bill Text download pdf


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

                                  8244

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 27, 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 correction law, in relation to establishing emergen-
  cy release protocols during a time of crisis

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

  Section  1.  The correction law is amended by adding a new section 807
to read as follows:
  § 807. EMERGENCY RELEASE DURING A TIME OF CRISIS. 1. DURING AN EPIDEM-
IC, A NATURAL DISASTER, A CLIMATE DISASTER, A WAR OR OTHER SIMILAR EMER-
GENCY WHICH PLACES THE LIVES, HEALTH OR WELL-BEING OF PEOPLE IN  CUSTODY
AT  RISK, THE COMMISSIONER SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO RELEASE TO COMMU-
NITY SUPERVISION ANY PERSON IN CUSTODY WHO:
  (A) IS WITHIN TWO YEARS OF HIS OR HER EARLIEST RELEASE DATE;
  (B) HAS A STABLE LIVING SITUATION UPON RELEASE;
  (C) DOES NOT POSE AN UNREASONABLE PUBLIC SAFETY RISK; AND
  (D) APPEARS TO BE REHABILITATED, OR IS ELDERLY,  FRAIL  OR  IMMUNOCOM-
PROMISED, OR HAS A DISABILITY AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION
TWENTY-ONE OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-TWO OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW.
  2. ANY PREGNANT WOMAN OR WOMAN PARTICIPATING IN THE NURSERY PROGRAM AT
A  CORRECTIONAL  FACILITY  SHALL  BE  RELEASED  TO COMMUNITY SUPERVISION
DURING SUCH EMERGENCY UNLESS SHE PRESENTS AN EXCEPTIONAL  PUBLIC  SAFETY
RISK.
  3.  ANY  PERSON  OVER THE AGE OF FIFTY-FIVE WHO HAS COMPLETED AT LEAST
ONE HALF OF HIS OR HER MINIMUM SENTENCE MAY BE RELEASED IN SUCH AN EMER-
GENCY.
  4. SUCH EMERGENCY RELEASE SHALL NOT  BE  REVOKED  WHEN  THE  EMERGENCY
CONCLUDES  AS LONG AS ANY PERSON SO RELEASED COMPLIES WITH THE TERMS AND
CONDITIONS OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION.
  § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.


 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD16168-01-0

Co-Sponsors

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10386
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Correction Law
Laws Affected:: Add §807, Cor L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S2782
2023-2024: S1921

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to establishing emergency release protocols during a time of crisis including during a state disaster emergency which places the lives, health or well-being of people in custody at risk.

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S8244a

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing emergen-
cy release protocols during a time of crisis

 
PURPOSE:

To authorize the department of corrections to release certain incarcer-
ated individuals in an emergency.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new section 807 to the correction law identifying popu-
lations eligible to be released in emergency situations.

Section 2 clarifies that individuals released under these emergency
protocols shall remain under community supervision and shall remain
subject to relevant community supervision provisions.

Section 3 provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

COVID-19 hits hardest in dense population centers or clusters where
people gather in close proximity. We have all been told to keep at least
six feet away from other people, to wash our hands, clean door knobs and
other hard surfaces that people touch with anti-viral cleaning agents,
work from home, avoid all non-essential human contact. None of this is
possible in prisons where nearly all movement is group movement, and
where people live in open dorms with as many as 60 beds or in tiny cells
with poor ventilation. Hundreds of correctional staff and incarcerated
individuals have contracted the virus and, at the date of this writing,
ten people have died. The prison population is on average older and
sicker than the general population, so we can expect more deaths.

This bill, which would apply to any emergency situation in which lives
were in danger, gives permission to the Commissioner of DOCCS to order
parole release for people who are within two years of the end of their
sentences, who have a home to go, and who do not pose an unreasonable
public safety risk. Lowering the density of the prisons would allow
officers and incarcerated individuals to better deal with the disease,
to have more personal space, to be able to maintain order and hygiene.
It also mandates the parole release of pregnant women and women living
with children in prison nurseries, unless such women pose an exceptional
public safety risk. It further gives the commissioner the discretion to
release older people who have served at least half of their sentence; in
the current situation, those people are especially vulnerable to the
virus.

This bill would cut through red tape and would allow the decision to
release incarcerated individuals to rest with the Department, the agency
best suited to evaluate their dangerousness or suitability for release.
Clearly if an individual violates the conditions of his or her parole
release, he or she would be returned to prison.


This bill would allow the commissioner to release incarcerated individ-
uals in order to save the lives of the vulnerable and to reduce the
prison population in order to more efficiently and safely manage correc-
tional facilities at a time of crisis.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Will save the state money.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


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

                                 8244--A

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 27, 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 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
  amended and recommitted to said committee

AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing emergen-
  cy release protocols during a time of crisis

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

  Section  1.  The correction law is amended by adding a new section 807
to read as follows:
  § 807. EMERGENCY RELEASE DURING A TIME OF CRISIS. 1.  DURING  A  STATE
DISASTER  EMERGENCY,  AS  DEFINED IN ARTICLE TWO-B OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW,
WHICH PLACES THE LIVES, HEALTH OR WELL-BEING OF  PEOPLE  IN  CUSTODY  AT
RISK,  THE COMMISSIONER SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO RELEASE TO COMMUNITY
SUPERVISION ANY PERSON IN CUSTODY WHO:
  (A) IS WITHIN TWO YEARS OF THEIR EARLIEST RELEASE DATE, HAS A  REASON-
ABLY STABLE LIVING SITUATION UPON RELEASE, DOES NOT POSE AN UNREASONABLE
PUBLIC SAFETY RISK AND APPEARS TO BE REHABILITATED, IS IMMUNOCOMPROMISED
OR  HAS  A DISABILITY AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION TWENTY-
ONE OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-TWO OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW;
  (B) IS A PREGNANT WOMAN  OR  A  WOMAN  PARTICIPATING  IN  THE  NURSERY
PROGRAM  AT  A  CORRECTIONAL  FACILITY WHO DOES NOT POSE AN UNREASONABLE
PUBLIC SAFETY RISK AND HAS A REASONABLY  STABLE  LIVING  SITUATION  UPON
RELEASE; OR
  (C) IS A PERSON OVER THE AGE OF FIFTY-FIVE THAT HAS COMPLETED AT LEAST
ONE  HALF OF THEIR TERM OR MINIMUM TERM OF SENTENCE WHO HAS A REASONABLY
STABLE LIVING SITUATION UPON RELEASE AND DOES NOT POSE  AN  UNREASONABLE
PUBLIC SAFETY RISK.
  2.  ANY  INDIVIDUAL RELEASED UNDER THESE EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL
REMAIN UNDER COMMUNITY SUPERVISION, UNLESS SUCH SUPERVISION  IS  REVOKED
PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION THREE OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-I OF THE
EXECUTIVE  LAW,  FOR  THE REMAINDER OF THEIR SENTENCE OR UNTIL SUCH TIME
THAT THE COMMISSIONER DECIDES IT IS APPROPRIATE TO TERMINATE SUCH SUPER-
VISION PURSUANT TO THE LIMITATIONS SET FORTH IN SECTION TWO HUNDRED FIVE
OF THIS CHAPTER.
  § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD16168-04-0

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S8244A

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Bill Amendments

S8244 - Details

S8244 - Summary

S8244 - Sponsor Memo

S8244 - Bill Text download pdf

Co-Sponsors

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Details

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Summary

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S8244A

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Luis R. Sepúlveda

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Your Voice

Actions

Bill Amendments

S8244 - Details

S8244 - Summary

S8244 - Sponsor Memo

S8244 - Bill Text download pdf

Co-Sponsors

Velmanette Montgomery

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Details

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Summary

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S8244A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments