Relates to prohibiting involuntary employment of prisoners; provides that no prisoner shall be compelled to provide labor against his or her will by actual force, threats of force, threats of punishment, threats of legal coercion or by any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if such person did not provide such labor that such person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3142
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 22, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Correction
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 24 of article 3 of the constitution,
in relation to prohibiting involuntary employment of prisoners
1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 24 of article
2 3 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
3 § 24. [The legislature shall, by law, provide for the occupation and
4 employment of prisoners sentenced to the several state prisons, peniten-
5 tiaries, jails and reformatories in the state; and no] No person in any
6 [such] state prison, penitentiary, jail or reformatory, shall be
7 required or allowed to work, while under sentence thereto, at any trade,
8 industry or occupation, wherein or whereby his or her work, or the prod-
9 uct or profit of his or her work, shall be farmed out, contracted, given
10 or sold to any person, firm, association or corporation, provided that
11 the legislature may provide by law that such prisoners may voluntarily
12 perform work for nonprofit organizations provided that no person shall
13 be compelled to provide labor against his or her will by actual force,
14 threats of force, threats of punishment, threats of legal coercion or by
15 any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause the person to believe
16 that, if such person did not provide such labor that such person or
17 another person would suffer physical, emotional or mental harm or phys-
18 ical restraint. As used in this section, the term "nonprofit organiza-
19 tion" means an organization operated exclusively for religious, charita-
20 ble, or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which
21 inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. [This
22 section shall not be construed to prevent the legislature from providing
23 that convicts may work for, and that the products of their labor may be
24 disposed of to, the state or any political division thereof, or for or
25 to any public institution owned or managed and controlled by the state,
26 or any political division thereof.]
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD89015-01-1
A. 3142 2
1 § 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing be referred
2 to the first regular legislative session convening after the next
3 succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in conform-
4 ity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be published for 3
5 months previous to the time of such election.