Prohibits corrections employees from participating in degrading behavior towards incarcerated persons or fellow employees; establishes any individual who participates in such behavior shall be disciplined by the department and may have their employment terminated for cause.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A302 Revised 01/30/25
SPONSOR: Jackson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to prohibiting
corrections employees from participating in degrading behavior towards
incarcerated persons or fellow employees
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill will prohibit racist and degrading name calling of incarcerat-
ed individuals by state employees.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Correction Law Section 137(5). Section 2 provides an
effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Although most DOCCS employees act in a professional manner, incarcerated
people have long complained of some employees calling them degrading and
racist names and engaging in other insulting and humiliating behavior
targeting them for their race, sexual orientation, ethnicity or other
protected status under the State's human rights laws. This kind of
behavior should not be tolerated by the State, by DOCCS or by any
employee of the Department. The bill provides that employees who engage
in such behavior shall be disciplined and may be terminated for cause.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24 A3880 Referred to Codes / S4337 Referred to Crime Victims, Crime
and Corrections
2021-22 A.6374-A Referred to Codes / S.3210-A Referred to Crime Victims,
Crime and Corrections
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Ninety days after it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
302
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JACKSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to prohibiting
corrections employees from participating in degrading behavior towards
incarcerated persons or fellow employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 137 of the correction law, as
2 amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 5. No incarcerated individual in the care or custody of the department
5 shall be subjected to degrading, racist or discriminatory treatment, and
6 no officer or other employee of the department shall inflict any blows
7 whatever upon any incarcerated individual, unless in self defense, or to
8 suppress a revolt or insurrection. When any incarcerated individual, or
9 group of incarcerated individuals, shall offer violence to any person,
10 or do or attempt to do any injury to property, or attempt to escape, or
11 resist or disobey any lawful direction, the officers and employees shall
12 use all suitable means to defend themselves, to maintain order, to
13 enforce observation of discipline, to secure the persons of the offen-
14 ders and to prevent any such attempt or escape. No employee of the
15 department shall insult an incarcerated individual or department employ-
16 ee by calling such individual a degrading name or otherwise engaging in
17 treatment intended to humiliate, offend, provoke or denigrate such indi-
18 vidual based on such individual's age, race, creed, color, national
19 origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military
20 status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, or the
21 nature of the individual's crime of conviction. Any employee who
22 engages in such degrading treatment of an incarcerated individual or
23 another employee shall be disciplined by the department and may have
24 their employment terminated for cause.
25 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
26 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00600-01-5
