Senate Bill S8353

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8353

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to visitors to correc-
tional facilities who are menstruating, wearing menstrual products or
have a contraceptive device

 
PURPOSE:

This bill prohibits state and local correctional facilities from denying
entry and contact-visits to individuals attempting to visit an incarcer-
ated individual in a state or local correctional facility due to the
visiting individual menstruating or appearing to wear a menstrual prod-
uct or internal contraception on body scan imaging or alternative
screening methods.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Creates a new section 138-B of the Correction Law which
establishes that no state or local correctional facility shall deny
              

entry or contact-visits to a person visiting an incarcerated individual
due to the fact that such person is menstruating, wearing a menstrual
product, or has a contraceptive device, and that such products shall not
be required to be removed for entry or contact-visits.

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York State provided 11 million dollars in funding for body scanners
in New York State Correctional Facilities since 2022.  Currently, body
scanners are being regularly used, and DOCCS' visitation policy dictates
that each facility has the authority to deny visitation to individuals,
however, DOCCS has not produced a written directive or policy specific
to the operation of the body scanners and the processing of those
results.' During a public hearing held by the legislature in May 2025,
the commissioner of DOCCS testified that approximately 80-90% of visi-
tors utilizing the body scanners, and approximately 80-90% of staff
refuse to go through the body scanners.2

Since the implementation of body scanners in NYS correctional facili-
ties, there have been countless reports of false allegations by DOCCS
staff against visiting individuals of having contraband appear on their
scans, leading to their visitation being denied with no ability for the
visitor to prove their innocence in that moment. This is a significant
barrier for visitors who are traveling long distances, visitors who must
take time off from work, travel with children or elderly loved ones, and
those who must spend money to travel. DOCCS' ability to seemingly arbi-
trarily deny visitors causes immense stress and uncertainty to families
and loved ones.

Recently, there have been multiple reports of menstruating individuals
being denied visitation because their body scans showed menstrual
products in their imaging. For example, an individual recently travelled
5 hours by bus to visit her loved one and was told she could not visit
because of the tampon that appeared in her scans. She then travelled 5

hours back home by bus because there is no mechanism in place to argue
DOCCS' decision at that moment.

Per reports from visitors, DOCCS will sometimes require individuals to
remove their tampon to go through the body scanner and then put a new
one in. If they refuse, they will then be required to do a non-contact
visit. This is not only embarrassing and invasive, but processing visi-
tation takes time, and it is not always an option for menstruating indi-
viduals to not wear a menstrual product for an extended period of time.
This should not be a barrier for loved ones to have a contact-visit.

This bill seeks to protect menstruating individuals, or people wearing
menstrual products or internal contraception, from this humiliating and
discriminatory practice by prohibiting denying individuals from visiting
their loved ones or restricting contact visits in state or local correc-
tional facilities because their body scans or alternative screening
methods indicate they are wearing menstrual products or have internal
contraception, and that state and local correctional facilities cannot
require individuals to remove menstrual products in order to enter or be
permitted contact visitation.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
https://doccs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/11/4403.pdf 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_s2LnbAOL4