STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3667
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 13, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- 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 executive law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to enabling victims to view parole hearings via closed
circuit television or a secure online website
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 259-c of the executive law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 18 to read as follows:
3 18. permit victims and relatives of victims to view an inmate's parole
4 hearing relating to their case via closed circuit television or a secure
5 online website.
6 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 641 of the executive law, as added by
7 chapter 94 of the laws of 1984 and paragraph (d) as amended by chapter
8 618 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
9 3. Ensure notification of victims, witnesses, relatives of those
10 victims and witnesses who are minors, and relatives of homicide victims,
11 if such persons provide the appropriate official with a current address
12 and telephone number, either by phone or by mail, if possible, of judi-
13 cial proceedings relating to their case, including:
14 (a) the arrest of an accused;
15 (b) the initial appearance of an accused before a judicial officer;
16 (c) the release of an accused pending judicial proceedings; [and]
17 (d) proceedings in the prosecution of the accused including entry of a
18 plea of guilty, trial, sentencing, but prior to sentencing specific
19 information shall be provided regarding the right to seek restitution
20 and reparation, and where a term of imprisonment is imposed, specific
21 information shall be provided regarding maximum and minimum terms of
22 such imprisonment; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07993-01-5
S. 3667 2
1 (e) the date and time of any parole hearing as well as the location at
2 which the victim and relatives of the victim may view the hearing on
3 closed circuit television or the secure online website on which the
4 hearing may be viewed.
5 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 440.50 of the criminal procedure law, as
6 amended by section 80 of subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the laws
7 of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
8 1. Upon the request of a victim of a crime, or in any event in all
9 cases in which the final disposition includes a conviction of a violent
10 felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or a felony
11 defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such law, the district
12 attorney shall, within sixty days of the final disposition of the case,
13 inform the victim by letter of such final disposition. If such final
14 disposition results in the commitment of the defendant to the custody of
15 the department of corrections and community supervision for an indeter-
16 minate sentence, the notice provided to the crime victim shall also
17 inform the victim of his or her right to submit a written, audiotaped,
18 or videotaped victim impact statement to the department of corrections
19 and community supervision or to meet personally with a member of the
20 state board of parole at a time and place separate from the personal
21 interview between a member or members of the board and the inmate and
22 make such a statement, subject to procedures and limitations contained
23 in rules of the board, both pursuant to subdivision two of section two
24 hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law. The right of the victim under
25 this subdivision to submit a written victim impact statement or to meet
26 personally with a member of the state board of parole applies to each
27 personal interview between a member or members of the board and the
28 inmate. The notice to the victim shall also inform the victim of his or
29 her right to view the defendant's parole hearing on closed circuit tele-
30 vision or over a secure online website and shall inform the victim of
31 the intended date and time of the parole hearing as well as the location
32 or website address at which the victim may view the hearing.
33 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
