NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1680A
SPONSOR: Thiele (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the time in which
reconsideration for parole shall be determined
PURPOSE:
This bill would extend the number of months from twenty-four to sixty as
the time within which the parole board must set for reconsideration of a
denied application for parole in cases where an inmate was sentenced for
a violent crime.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends Section 259-i (2) (a) (i) of the executive
law by providing that should parole be denied, the board shall specify a
date not more than sixty months from such determination for reconsider-
ation in cases where an innate was sentenced for an eligible Class A
felony. For the purposes of this section an "eligible Class A felony"
shall mean a conviction for the Class A-I felonies of: Murder in the
first degree as defined in Section 125.27 of the Penal Law where a
sentence other than death or life imprisonment without parole is
imposed; murder in the second degree as defined in Section 125.25 of the
Penal Law where a sentence other than life imprisonment without parole
is imposed; and the Class A-II felonies of predatory sexual assault as
defined in Section 130.95 of the Penal Law and predatory sexual assault
against a child as defined in Section 130.96 of the Penal Law.
This section of law is subject to expiration and reversion pursuant to §
74 (d) of Chapter 3 of the Laws of 1995, and the proposed amendment is
set to also be subject to such expiration and reversion.
Section 2 of the bill makes the above amendments to Section 259-i (2)
(a) of the executive law which are scheduled to take effect when the
provisions above expire.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently when parole is denied, the board has the discretion to set the
date for reconsideration for parole for any date within two years of the
denial of parole. In many cases, especially those involving heinous acts
of violence against another, parole will be denied numerous times.
However, each time an inmate is considered for parole, the victim and
his/her family is required to relive the horror of the crime for the
sake of impressing upon the Parole Board the inappropriateness of early
release. In these cases, when the board is confident that their opinion
regarding parole release will not be changed by anything that can tran-
spire within the next five years, the board should have the discretion
to set the date for reconsideration of its denial of parole for any date
within those five years. This would still allow for an earlier reconsid-
eration if warranted, yet also give the victim and his/her family a
greater period of time of peace before the next parole consideration.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2015: S.1483/A.1680
2013-14: S.2486A/A.2774A
2011-12: S.1861A/A.2081-A
2009-10: S.425/A.1188
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This bill could result in some savings to the State by not requiring
parole considerations that are unnecessary.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all future and
currently incarcerated individuals sentenced for an eligible Class A
felony; provided that the amendments to subparagraph (i) of paragraph
(a) of subdivision 2 of section 259-i of the executive law made by
section one of this act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion
of such paragraph pursuant to subdivision d of section 74 of Chapter 3
of the Laws of 1995, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of
section two of this act shall take effect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 1483--A A. 1680--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
January 12, 2015
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. LAVALLE, DeFRANCISCO, GOLDEN, LARKIN,
O'MARA, SEWARD, YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction -- recommitted to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE, PALMESANO, LAVINE, MAGNAR-
ELLI, STIRPE, McDONOUGH, GRAF, FINCH, KOLB, SALADINO -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. GIGLIO, RAIA -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Correction -- recommitted to the Committee on Correction
in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the time in which
reconsideration for parole shall be determined
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of
2 section 259-i of the executive law, as amended by section 38-f-1 of
3 subpart A of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
4 read as follows:
5 (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, at
6 least one month prior to the date on which an inmate may be paroled
7 pursuant to subdivision one of section 70.40 of the penal law, a member
8 or members as determined by the rules of the board shall personally
9 interview such inmate and determine whether he or she should be paroled
10 in accordance with the guidelines adopted pursuant to subdivision four
11 of section two hundred fifty-nine-c of this article. If parole is not
12 granted upon such review, the inmate shall be informed in writing within
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02675-02-6
S. 1483--A 2 A. 1680--A
1 two weeks of such appearance of the factors and reasons for such denial
2 of parole. Such reasons shall be given in detail and not in conclusory
3 terms. The board shall specify a date not more than twenty-four months
4 from such determination for reconsideration, and the procedures to be
5 followed upon reconsideration shall be the same, however in the case of
6 a defendant sentenced for an eligible class A felony, the board shall
7 specify a date not more than sixty months from such determination for
8 reconsideration, and the procedures to be followed for reconsideration
9 shall be the same. For the purposes of this section an "eligible class A
10 felony" shall mean a conviction for the class A-I felonies of: murder in
11 the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal law where a
12 sentence other than death or life imprisonment without parole is
13 imposed; murder in the second degree as defined in section 125.25 of the
14 penal law where a sentence other than life imprisonment without parole
15 is imposed; and the class A-II felonies of predatory sexual assault as
16 defined in section 130.95 of the penal law and predatory sexual assault
17 against a child as defined in section 130.96 of the penal law. If the
18 inmate is released, he or she shall be given a copy of the conditions of
19 parole. Such conditions shall where appropriate, include a requirement
20 that the parolee comply with any restitution order, mandatory surcharge,
21 sex offender registration fee and DNA databank fee previously imposed by
22 a court of competent jurisdiction that applies to the parolee. The
23 conditions shall indicate which restitution collection agency estab-
24 lished under subdivision eight of section 420.10 of the criminal proce-
25 dure law, shall be responsible for collection of restitution, mandatory
26 surcharge, sex offender registration fees and DNA databank fees as
27 provided for in section 60.35 of the penal law and section eighteen
28 hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law.
29 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 259-i of the executive
30 law, as amended by section 38-f-2 of subpart A of part C of chapter 62
31 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
32 (a) At least one month prior to the expiration of the minimum period
33 or periods of imprisonment fixed by the court or board, a member or
34 members as determined by the rules of the board shall personally inter-
35 view an inmate serving an indeterminate sentence and determine whether
36 he or she should be paroled at the expiration of the minimum period or
37 periods in accordance with the procedures adopted pursuant to subdivi-
38 sion four of section two hundred fifty-nine-c. If parole is not granted
39 upon such review, the inmate shall be informed in writing within two
40 weeks of such appearance of the factors and reasons for such denial of
41 parole. Such reasons shall be given in detail and not in conclusory
42 terms. The board shall specify a date not more than twenty-four months
43 from such determination for reconsideration, and the procedures to be
44 followed upon reconsideration shall be the same, however in the case of
45 a defendant sentenced for an eligible class A felony, the board shall
46 specify a date not more than sixty months from such determination for
47 reconsideration, and the procedures to be followed for reconsideration
48 shall be the same. For the purposes of this section an "eligible class A
49 felony" shall mean a conviction for the class A-I felonies of: murder in
50 the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal law where a
51 sentence other than death or life imprisonment without parole is
52 imposed; murder in the second degree as defined in section 125.25 of the
53 penal law where a sentence other than life imprisonment without parole
54 is imposed; and the class A-II felonies of predatory sexual assault as
55 defined in section 130.95 of the penal law and predatory sexual assault
56 against a child as defined in section 130.96 of the penal law. If the
S. 1483--A 3 A. 1680--A
1 inmate is released, he or she shall be given a copy of the conditions of
2 parole. Such conditions shall where appropriate, include a requirement
3 that the parolee comply with any restitution order and mandatory
4 surcharge previously imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction that
5 applies to the parolee. The conditions shall indicate which restitution
6 collection agency established under subdivision eight of section 420.10
7 of the criminal procedure law, shall be responsible for collection of
8 restitution and mandatory surcharge as provided for in section 60.35 of
9 the penal law and section eighteen hundred nine of the vehicle and traf-
10 fic law.
11 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
12 future and currently incarcerated individuals sentenced for an eligible
13 class A felony; provided that the amendments to subparagraph (i) of
14 paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 259-i of the executive law
15 made by section one of this act shall be subject to the expiration and
16 reversion of such paragraph pursuant to subdivision d of section 74 of
17 chapter 3 of the laws of 1995, as amended, when upon such date the
18 provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.
