Bill Text: NY S05241 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to segregated confinement; prohibits segregated confinement for certain persons.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION [S05241 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S05241-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5241
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     March 16, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sens. LANZA, BAILEY -- 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  segregated  confine-
          ment
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivision 23 of section 2 of the correction law, as added
     2  by chapter 1 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
     3    23. "Segregated confinement" means the [disciplinary]  confinement  of
     4  an  inmate  in  a special housing unit or in a separate keeplock housing
     5  unit.  Special housing units and separate  keeplock  units  are  housing
     6  units that consist of cells grouped so as to provide separation from the
     7  general  population,  and may be used to house inmates confined pursuant
     8  to the disciplinary procedures described in regulations.
     9    § 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision 6  of  section  137  of  the
    10  correction  law, as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 2008, is amended
    11  and two new paragraphs (g) and (h) are added to read as follows:
    12    Except as provided in paragraphs (d) [and], (e), (g) and (h)  of  this
    13  subdivision,  as a measure of last resort, the superintendent of a state
    14  correctional facility, under supervision of  the  commissioner,  or  the
    15  sheriff of a local correctional facility may keep any inmate confined in
    16  a  cell  or room, apart from the accommodations provided for inmates who
    17  are participating in programs of the facility, for such  minimal  period
    18  as  may  be necessary for maintenance of order or discipline, but in any
    19  such case the following conditions shall be observed:
    20    (g) Segregated confinement is prohibited for the following inmates:
    21    (i) juveniles under the age of twenty-one;
    22    (ii) any person with a mental illness or a developmental disability as
    23  defined in section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law; and
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04926-05-7
        S. 5241                             2
     1    (iii) any person who has a permanent physical disability documented in
     2  his or her medical records that substantially limits one or  more  major
     3  life  activities.  For  the  purposes  of  this subdivision, "major life
     4  activities" means functions such as walking, seeing, hearing and  speak-
     5  ing.
     6    (h) The commissioner shall compile and publish comprehensive disaggre-
     7  gated  data  on  the  use  of  segregated confinement, including related
     8  suicide attempts and self-harm, on a quarterly basis.
     9    § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 138 of the correction law, as  added  by
    10  chapter 231 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows:
    11    3.  Facility  rules  shall  be specific and precise giving all inmates
    12  actual notice of the conduct prohibited. Facility rules shall state  the
    13  range  of  disciplinary  sanctions which can be imposed for violation of
    14  each rule but any sanction of segregated confinement shall  be  for  the
    15  minimum period necessary for the maintenance of order or discipline.
    16    § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    17  it shall have become a law.