NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A277
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reporting voting rates
for parole commissioners
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and
Community Supervision to release persons within a limited category of
individuals during an epidemic, climate disaster, war or emergency of
that type, which places the lives, health or well-being of people in
custody at risk
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The bill adds a new. section 807 to the Correction Law, providing
discretion for the Commissioner of DOCCS to release to supervision by
DOCCS a limited number of persons in emergency circumstances. Any indi-
vidual released under these circumstances would be under supervision by
the Department of Correctional Services and Community Supervision, and
could be returned to prison for violating the conditions of release,
pursuant to Executive Law section 259-i (3).
JUSTIFICATION:
COVID-19 hits the hardest in dense population areas or clusters where
people gather in close proximity. During this deadly health crisis, we
have all been told to keep at least six feet away from other people,
wash our hands, clean door knobs (and other hard surfaces people touch)
with anti-viral cleaning agents, work from home, and avoid all non-es-
sential human contact. None of this is possible in prison, where nearly
all movement is group movement and where people live in open dorms with
as many as 60 beds or in cramped cells with poor ventilation. Hundreds
of correctional staff and incarcerated individuals have contracted the
COVID-19 virus and, to date, sixteen people have died. The prison popu-
lation is, on average, older and sicker than the general population so,
sadly, we can expect more deaths.
This bill, which would apply in disaster emergency situations in which
lives may be in danger, gives authority to the Commissioner of DOCCS to
order parole release for people who are within two years of their earli-
est release date, have a reasonably stable living situation upon
release, and who do not pose an unreasonable public safety risk. Lower-
ing the density of the prisons would allow officers and incarcerated
individuals to better deal with the disease, have more personal space,
and be able to maintain order and hygiene.
The bill also would authorize the parole release of pregnant women and
women participating in the nursery program at a correctional facility,
again where the individual does not pose an unreasonable public safety
risk and has a reasonably stable living situation upon release. It
further gives the Commissioner the discretion to release to parole
supervision persons over age fifty-five who have completed at least one
half of the term or minimum term of sentence, who have a reasonably
stable living situation upon release, and who do not pose an unreason-
able public safety risk.
This bill would efficiently allow review and decision-making in these
emergency circumstances. It would rest the decision to release certain
persons to DOCCS supervision with the Department of Corrections and
Community Supervision, the agency best suited to evaluate suitability
for release supervision by DOCCS. If an individual were to violate the
conditions of his or her parole release, he or she could be jailed
promptly and returned to state prison.
This bill would save lives and help protect the health of inmates,
corrections staff and their families in emergency circumstances. It
would provide to the Commissioner a necessary tool to safely manage the
correctional system in a time of crisis.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The bill will reduce costs, as supervision by the Department is less
costly than maintaining an individual in a correctional institution.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
277
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN, HYNDMAN, SEAWRIGHT, GLICK, HUNTER,
CARROLL, SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Correction
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to reporting voting rates
for parole commissioners
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 13 of section 259-c of the executive law, as
2 amended by chapter 292 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 13. transmit a report of the work of the state board of parole for the
5 preceding calendar year to the governor and the legislature annually.
6 Such report shall include statistical information regarding the demo-
7 graphics of persons granted release and considered for release to commu-
8 nity supervision or deportation, including but not limited to age,
9 gender, race, ethnicity, region of commitment and other relevant catego-
10 ries of classification and commitment, and the rate at which each parole
11 commissioner votes to release persons appearing before the board;
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00193-01-3
