NY State Senate Bill 2023-S4920

Senate Bill S4920

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to temporary release eligibility for judicially ordered comprehensive alcohol and substance abuse treatment

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Current 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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Feb 17, 2023	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

co-Sponsors

2023-S4920 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Correction Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §851, Cor L; amd §60.04, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S4324
2021-2022: S2200

2023-S4920 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to temporary release eligibility for judicially ordered comprehensive alcohol and substance abuse treatment.

2023-S4920 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4920

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law and the penal law, in relation to
temporary release eligibility for judicially-ordered comprehensive alco-
hol and substance abuse treatment

 
PURPOSE:

To permit inmates who are ordered by judges to attend comprehensive
alcohol and substance abuse treatment (CARAT) programs to complete the
program.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sections 1, 2 and 3 amend correction law g 851(2) to add inmates who
were judicially-ordered to CARAT to the definition of inmates eligible
for work release.

Section 4 amends section 60.04(6) of the penal law to provide that

defendants judicially sentenced to CASAT shall be eligible for work
release.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Judicially-ordered CASAT was intended by the legislature to allow courts
to directly order defendants whose crimes were committed because of
their drug use to go to an intensive drug treatment program run by DOCCS
and to then go onto work release where they could be closely monitored
for sobriety while earning their way back into society. Besides judi-
cially-ordered CARAT, other inmates with drug and alcohol abuse problems
can be sent to CASAT by DOCCS once they are getting close to being work-
release eligible, that is within two years of completion of their mini-
mum sentences. Because of the wording of the statute, DOCCS decided that
judicially-ordered inmates who had more than two years to go on their
sentences when they completed phase I of the CASAT program were not
eligible for work release. Instead, DOCCS sends those inmates back into
prison where their progress is out on hold while they finish their
sentences.

Given the current heroin epidemic and the number of people caught up in
cycles of addiction, it is time to revisit the language authorizing
Judicially-ordered CARAT. When the court determines that a criminal
defendant is a good candidate for intensive drug treatment followed by
work release, that defendant should have a chance to fully participate
in the CASAT program. Inmates who successfully complete the drug-treat-
ment component of the program should be able to participate in work
release, as originally intended by the Legislature. Any inmate who is
not successful on work release or who relapses will be sent back to
prison, at least until he or she has completed his or her minimum
sentence.

Work release is a positive tool for rehabilitation and is more restric-
tive than parole. It gives addicted inmates the opportunity to overcome
their drug problems and return to society more quickly once those prob-
lems are addressed. An inmate who finishes his or her minimum sentence

on work release is then eligible for parole release like any other
inmate.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.2200 of 2021-22, Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;

S.4324 of 2019-20, Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;

A.10907 of 2018, Advanced to Third Reading

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None. The CASAT programs are under-enrolled since the state enacted
Rockefeller Drug Law Reform so they have excess capacity. It saves money
to send inmates out on work release instead of locking them up in pris-
on.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This acts takes effect on the 60th day after it shall have become a law,
provided however, that the amendments to subdivision 2 of section 8 52.
of the correction law made by section one of thi act shall be subject to
the expiration and reversion of such subdivision and section pursuant to
subdivision (c) of section 46 of the chapter 60 of the laws of 1994 and
section 10 of chapter 339 of the law s of 1972, as amended, when upon
such date the provisions of section two of this at shall take effect;
provided farther, that the amendments to subdivision 2 of section 851 of
the correction law made by section two of this at shall expire on the
same date as subdivision (c)of section 46 of chapter 60 of the laws of
1994 and section 10 of chapter 339 of the laws of 1972, and section 5 of
chapter 5 54 of the laws of 1986, as amended, expire when upon such date
the provisions of section three of this act shall take effect.

2023-S4920 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4920
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 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 and the penal  law,  in  relation  to
   temporary  release  eligibility  for  judicially-ordered comprehensive
   alcohol and substance abuse treatment

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section 851 of the correction law, as
 amended by section 228 of chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to
 read as follows:
   2. "Eligible incarcerated individual" means: a person confined  in  an
 institution  who  is  eligible  for release on parole or who will become
 eligible for release on parole or conditional release within  two  years
 OR  WHO  HAS  COMPLETED  A  JUDICIALLY-ORDERED SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT
 PROGRAM IN A STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION SIX  OF
 SECTION  60.04 OF THE PENAL LAW.  Provided, however, that a person under
 sentence for an offense defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision
 one of section 70.02 of the penal law, where such offense  involved  the
 use  or  threatened use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument shall
 not be eligible to participate in a work release program until he or she
 is eligible for release on parole or who will be eligible for release on
 parole or conditional release within eighteen months. Provided, further,
 however, that a person under a determinate sentence as a  second  felony
 drug  offender  for  a  class  B  felony  offense defined in article two
 hundred twenty of the penal law, who was sentenced pursuant  to  section
 70.70  of  such law, shall not be eligible to participate in a temporary
 release program until the time served under imprisonment for his or  her
 determinate  sentence,  including any jail time credited pursuant to the
 provisions of article seventy of the penal law, shall be at least  eigh-
 teen  months.  In the case of a person serving an indeterminate sentence
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09366-01-3

 S. 4920                             2
 
 of imprisonment imposed pursuant  to  the  penal  law  in  effect  after
 September  one,  nineteen  hundred sixty-seven, for the purposes of this
 article parole eligibility shall be upon the expiration of  the  minimum
 period  of  imprisonment  fixed  by the court or where the court has not
 fixed any period, after service of the minimum period fixed by the state
 board of parole. If an incarcerated  individual  is  denied  release  on
 parole,  such  incarcerated  individual  shall not be deemed an eligible
 incarcerated individual until he or she is within two years  of  his  or
 her next scheduled appearance before the state parole board. In any case
 where  an  incarcerated  individual  is  denied  release on parole while
 participating in a  temporary  release  program,  the  department  shall
 review the status of the incarcerated individual to determine if contin-
 ued  placement in the program is appropriate. No person convicted of any
 escape or absconding offense defined in article two hundred five of  the
 penal  law  shall  be eligible for temporary release. Further, no person
 under sentence for aggravated harassment of an employee by an  incarcer-
 ated  individual  as defined in section 240.32 of the penal law for, any
 homicide offense defined in article one hundred twenty-five of the penal
 law, for any sex offense defined in article one hundred  thirty  of  the
 penal law, or for an offense defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27
 of  the  penal  law  shall  be eligible to participate in a work release
 program as defined in subdivision three of this section. Nor  shall  any
 person under sentence for any sex offense defined in article one hundred
 thirty  of  the  penal  law  be  eligible  to participate in a community
 services program  as  defined  in  subdivision  five  of  this  section.
 Notwithstanding  the  foregoing,  no person who is an otherwise eligible
 incarcerated individual who is under sentence for a crime involving: (a)
 infliction of serious physical injury upon another  as  defined  in  the
 penal  law  or (b) any other offense involving the use or threatened use
 of a deadly weapon may participate in a temporary release program  with-
 out  the  written  approval  of the commissioner. The commissioner shall
 promulgate regulations giving direction to the temporary release commit-
 tee at each institution in order to aid such committees in carrying  out
 this mandate.
   The  governor,  by  executive  order, may exclude or limit the partic-
 ipation of any class of otherwise eligible incarcerated individuals from
 participation in a temporary release program. Nothing in this  paragraph
 shall  be construed to affect either the validity of any executive order
 previously issued  limiting  the  participation  of  otherwise  eligible
 incarcerated individuals in such program or the authority of the commis-
 sioner to impose appropriate regulations limiting such participation.
   § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 851 of the correction law, as amended by
 section  228-b of chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
 follows:
   2. "Eligible incarcerated individual" means: a person confined  in  an
 institution  who  is  eligible  for release on parole or who will become
 eligible for release on parole or conditional release within  two  years
 OR  WHO  HAS  COMPLETED  A  JUDICIALLY-ORDERED SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT
 PROGRAM  IN A STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION SIX OF
 SECTION 60.04 OF THE PENAL LAW.  Provided, that a person under a  deter-
 minate  sentence  as  a second felony drug offender for a class B felony
 offense defined in article two hundred twenty of the penal law, who  was
 sentenced  pursuant  to section 70.70 of such law, shall not be eligible
 to participate in a temporary release  program  until  the  time  served
 under  imprisonment  for  his or her determinate sentence, including any
 jail time credited pursuant to the provisions of article seventy of  the
 S. 4920                             3
 
 penal  law,  shall  be at least eighteen months. In the case of a person
 serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment  imposed  pursuant  to
 the penal law in effect after September one, nineteen hundred sixty-sev-
 en,  for  the  purposes of this article parole eligibility shall be upon
 the expiration of the minimum period of imprisonment fixed by the  court
 or  where the court has not fixed any period, after service of the mini-
 mum period fixed by the state board of parole. If an incarcerated  indi-
 vidual  is  denied release on parole, such incarcerated individual shall
 not be deemed an eligible incarcerated individual until  he  or  she  is
 within  two  years  of  his  or her next scheduled appearance before the
 state parole board. In any case  where  an  incarcerated  individual  is
 denied  release  on  parole  while  participating in a temporary release
 program, the department shall review  the  status  of  the  incarcerated
 individual  to determine if continued placement in the program is appro-
 priate. No person convicted of any escape or absconding offense  defined
 in  article  two  hundred  five  of  the penal law shall be eligible for
 temporary release. Nor shall any  person  under  sentence  for  any  sex
 offense defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law be eligi-
 ble  to participate in a community services program as defined in subdi-
 vision five of this section.  Notwithstanding the foregoing,  no  person
 who  is  an  otherwise  eligible  incarcerated  individual  who is under
 sentence for a crime involving: (a) infliction of serious physical inju-
 ry upon another as defined in the penal law, (b) a sex offense involving
 forcible compulsion, or (c) any  other  offense  involving  the  use  or
 threatened use of a deadly weapon may participate in a temporary release
 program  without  the  written approval of the commissioner. The commis-
 sioner shall promulgate regulations giving direction  to  the  temporary
 release committee at each institution in order to aid such committees in
 carrying out this mandate.
   The  governor,  by  executive  order, may exclude or limit the partic-
 ipation of any class of otherwise eligible incarcerated individuals from
 participation in a temporary release program. Nothing in this  paragraph
 shall  be construed to affect either the validity of any executive order
 previously issued  limiting  the  participation  of  otherwise  eligible
 incarcerated individuals in such program or the authority of the commis-
 sioner to impose appropriate regulations limiting such participation.
   §  3.  Subdivision 2 of section 851 of the correction law, as added by
 section 228-d of chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read  as
 follows:
   2.  "Eligible  incarcerated  individual" means a person confined in an
 institution where a work release program has  been  established  who  is
 eligible  for  release on parole or who will become eligible for release
 on parole within one year OR  WHO  HAS  COMPLETED  A  JUDICIALLY-ORDERED
 SUBSTANCE  ABUSE  TREATMENT  PROGRAM    IN A STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
 PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION SIX OF SECTION 60.04 OF THE PENAL LAW.
   § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 60.04 of the penal law,  as  amended  by
 section 120 of subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is
 amended to read as follows:
   6.  Substance  abuse  treatment.  When the court imposes a sentence of
 imprisonment which requires a commitment  to  the  state  department  of
 corrections and community supervision upon a person who stands convicted
 of  a  controlled  substance  or  marihuana offense, the court may, upon
 motion of the defendant in its discretion, issue an order directing that
 the department of  corrections  and  community  supervision  enroll  the
 defendant  in  the  comprehensive  alcohol and substance abuse treatment
 program in an alcohol and substance abuse correctional annex as  defined
 S. 4920                             4
 
 in  subdivision  eighteen of section two of the correction law, provided
 that the defendant will satisfy the statutory eligibility  criteria  for
 participation  in such program. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions
 of this subdivision, any defendant to be enrolled in such program pursu-
 ant  to  this  subdivision shall be governed by the same rules and regu-
 lations promulgated by  the  department  of  corrections  and  community
 supervision,  including  without  limitation those rules and regulations
 establishing requirements for completion and those rules and regulations
 governing discipline and removal from the program. SUCH DEFENDANT  SHALL
 BE  DEEMED ELIGIBLE FOR TEMPORARY RELEASE PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF
 SECTION EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE OF THE CORRECTION LAW UPON COMPLETION OF
 SUCH PROGRAM. No such period of court  ordered  corrections  based  drug
 abuse treatment pursuant to this subdivision shall be required to extend
 beyond the defendant's conditional release date.
   §  5.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments to subdivision
 2 of section 851 of the correction law made by section one of  this  act
 shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision and
 section  pursuant  to subdivision (c) of section 46 of chapter 60 of the
 laws of 1994 and section 10 of chapter 339  of  the  laws  of  1972,  as
 amended,  when  upon such date the provisions of section two of this act
 shall take effect; provided, further, that the amendments to subdivision
 2 of section 851 of the correction law made by section two of  this  act
 shall  expire on the same date as subdivision (c) of section 46 of chap-
 ter 60 of the laws of 1994, section 10 of chapter 339  of  the  laws  of
 1972, and section 5 of chapter 554 of the laws of 1986, as amended, when
 upon  such  date  the provisions of section three of this act shall take
 effect.

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Senate Bill S4920

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Sponsored By

Luis R. Sepúlveda