Senate Bill S7514

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7514
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             November 8, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sens. SALAZAR, RIVERA, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, BRISPORT,
   BROUK, COMRIE, COONEY, GIANARIS, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAVANAGH,
   KRUEGER, LIU, MAY,  MAYER,  MYRIE,  PARKER,  RAMOS,  SANDERS,  SAVINO,
   SEPULVEDA,  SERRANO,  STAVISKY  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to findings of the  state
   board  of  parole  necessary for discretionary release of incarcerated
   persons on parole
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subparagraph  (A)  of  paragraph  (c) of subdivision 2 of
 section 259-i of the executive law, as amended by  chapter  130  of  the
 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   (A)  [Discretionary  release] RELEASE on parole shall [not] be granted
 [merely as a reward for good conduct or efficient performance of  duties
 while confined but after considering if there is a reasonable probabili-
 ty  that, if such inmate is released, he will live and remain at liberty
 without violating the law, and that his release is not incompatible with
 the welfare of society and will not so deprecate the seriousness of  his
 crime  as  to  undermine  respect  for  law]  TO ANY INCARCERATED PERSON
 APPEARING BEFORE THE BOARD WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR RELEASE ON PAROLE, UNLESS
 THE PAROLE CASE RECORD DEMONSTRATES THERE IS A CURRENT AND  UNREASONABLE
 RISK THE PERSON WILL VIOLATE THE LAW IF RELEASED AND SUCH RISK CANNOT BE
 MITIGATED BY PAROLE SUPERVISION. In making the [parole release decision]
 DETERMINATION  AS  TO  WHETHER A PERSON POSES A CURRENT AND UNREASONABLE
 RISK OF VIOLATING THE LAW IF RELEASED, the procedures  adopted  pursuant
 to  subdivision four of section two hundred fifty-nine-c of this article
 shall require that the following be considered: (i)  [the  institutional
 record  including  program  goals and accomplishments, academic achieve-
 ments,] ANY AND ALL EVIDENCE OF REHABILITATION AND REFORM, INCLUDING BUT
 NOT LIMITED TO  SELECTION  FOR  PARTICIPATION  IN  A  TEMPORARY  RELEASE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07240-06-1
              

 S. 7514                             2
 
 PROGRAM, PARTICIPATION IN OTHER PROGRAMMING, THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT, COMMU-
 NITY  SERVICE, OR vocational education, AND ANY training or work assign-
 ments THAT THE DEPARTMENT MADE AVAILABLE  TO  THE  INCARCERATED  PERSON,
 [therapy  and  interactions  with] AND STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT FROM staff,
 VOLUNTEERS and [inmates] OTHER INCARCERATED PERSONS; (ii)  [performance,
 if  any, as a participant in a temporary release program; (iii)] release
 plans, including SUPPORT FROM FAMILY MEMBERS AND  community  [resources]
 NETWORKS,  employment,  [education]  EDUCATIONAL  and  training OPPORTU-
 NITIES, CLINICAL, THERAPEUTIC AND OTHER REENTRY SERVICES, and ANY  OTHER
 AVAILABLE  support  services [available to the inmate]; [(iv)] (III) any
 deportation order issued by the federal government against the  [inmate]
 INCARCERATED  PERSON  while  in  the  custody  of the department and any
 recommendation regarding deportation made by  the  commissioner  of  the
 department pursuant to section one hundred forty-seven of the correction
 law;  (IV) THE LENGTH OF THE DETERMINATE SENTENCE TO WHICH THE INCARCER-
 ATED PERSON WOULD BE SUBJECT HAD HE OR SHE RECEIVED A SENTENCE  PURSUANT
 TO  SECTION  70.70  OR  SECTION  70.71 OF   THE   PENAL LAW FOR A FELONY
 DEFINED IN ARTICLE TWO HUNDRED TWENTY OR ARTICLE TWO HUNDRED  TWENTY-TWO
 OF  THE  PENAL LAW; (v) any current or prior statement made to the board
 by the crime victim or the  victim's  representative,  where  the  crime
 victim is deceased or is mentally or physically incapacitated; (vi) [the
 length  of the determinate sentence to which the inmate would be subject
 had he or she received a sentence pursuant to section 70.70  or  section
 70.71 of the penal law for a felony defined in article two hundred twen-
 ty  or article two hundred twenty-one of the penal law; (vii)] the seri-
 ousness of the offense with due consideration to the type  of  sentence,
 length  of  sentence  and  recommendations  of the sentencing court, the
 district attorney, the attorney for the  [inmate]  INCARCERATED  PERSON,
 the  pre-sentence probation report as well as consideration of any miti-
 gating and aggravating factors, and activities following arrest prior to
 confinement; and [(viii)] (VII) prior  criminal  record,  including  the
 nature  and pattern of offenses, adjustment to any previous probation or
 parole supervision and institutional confinement. IN CONSIDERING WHETHER
 THERE IS A CURRENT AND UNREASONABLE RISK THE PERSON WILL VIOLATE THE LAW
 IF RELEASED AND SUCH RISK CANNOT BE MITIGATED BY PAROLE SUPERVISION, THE
 BOARD SHALL NOT BASE THEIR DETERMINATION SOLELY OR PRIMARILY ON  ANY  OR
 ALL  OF  THE  FACTORS  CONTAINED  IN  CLAUSES  (V) THROUGH (VII) OF THIS
 SUBPARAGRAPH. THE BOARD SHALL EXPLAIN IN WRITING IN  DETAILED,  INDIVID-
 UALIZED,  AND  NON-CONCLUSORY  TERMS  THE  BASIS FOR A DENIAL OF PAROLE,
 INCLUDING HOW THE PAROLE CASE RECORD AND  THE  ENUMERATED  FACTORS  WERE
 CONSIDERED  AND  WEIGHED.  The  board  shall provide toll free telephone
 access for crime victims. In the case  of  an  oral  statement  made  in
 accordance with subdivision one of section 440.50 of the criminal proce-
 dure  law, the parole board member shall present a written report of the
 statement to the parole board. A  crime  victim's  representative  shall
 mean  the  crime  victim's  closest surviving relative, the committee or
 guardian of such person, or the legal representative of any such person.
 Such statement submitted by the victim or  victim's  representative  may
 include  information  concerning  threatening  or  intimidating  conduct
 toward the victim, the victim's representative, or the victim's  family,
 made  by  the  person sentenced and occurring after the sentencing. Such
 information may include, but need not be limited to, the threatening  or
 intimidating conduct of any other person who or which is directed by the
 person  sentenced.  Any  statement by a victim or the victim's represen-
 tative made to the board shall be maintained by the  department  in  the
 file  provided  to the board when interviewing the [inmate] INCARCERATED
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 PERSON in consideration of release. A victim or victim's  representative
 who has submitted a written request to the department for the transcript
 of  such  interview  shall  be  provided  such  transcript as soon as it
 becomes available.
   §  2. The board shall report quarterly in writing to the governor, the
 temporary president of the senate, the minority leader  of  the  senate,
 the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the assembly, and to
 the  chairpersons of the assembly committee on correction and the senate
 committee on crime victims, crime and correction on denials  of  parole.
 Written  reports  shall  include the number of individuals denied parole
 release each  month,  the  articulated  reasons  for  each  denial,  the
 assigned  commissioners  in  each  case and a record of their votes, and
 demographic information on each applicant denied  including  race,  sex,
 facility,  and  crime  of  conviction. Reports shall exclude information
 that would identify the individual. Reports  required  by  this  section
 shall  be  made  available  to  the  public  and posted quarterly on the
 websites maintained by the board of parole.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.