STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6219
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 6, 2016
___________
Introduced by Sen. HAMILTON -- 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 correction law and the executive law, in relation to
prohibiting the housing of persons in segregated confinement; and to
repeal certain provisions of the correction law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The correction law is amend by adding a new section 120-a
2 to read as follows;
3 § 120-a. Segregated confinement prohibited. Notwithstanding any other
4 provision of law, no person housed or confined in a correctional facili-
5 ty shall be placed in segregated confinement. For purposes of this
6 section the term "correctional facility" shall have the same meaning set
7 forth in subdivision three of section forty of this chapter and the term
8 "segregated confinement" shall have the same meaning set forth in subdi-
9 vision twenty-three of section two of this chapter.
10 § 2. Subdivision 23 of section 2 of the correction law, as added by
11 chapter 1 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
12 23. "Segregated confinement" means the disciplinary confinement of an
13 inmate in a special housing unit or in a separate keeplock housing unit.
14 Special housing units and separate keeplock units are housing units that
15 consist of cells grouped so as to provide separation from the general
16 population[, and may be used to house inmates confined pursuant to the
17 disciplinary procedures described in regulations].
18 § 3. Subdivision 24 of section 2 of the correction law, as added by
19 chapter 1 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
20 24. "Joint case management committee" means a committee composed of
21 staff from the department and the office of mental health. Such a
22 committee shall be established at each level one and level two facility.
23 Each committee shall consist of at least two clinical staff of the
24 office of mental health and two officials of the department. The purpose
25 of such committee shall be to review, monitor and coordinate the behav-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11837-01-5
S. 6219 2
1 ior and treatment plan of any inmate who is placed in [segregated
2 confinement or] a residential mental health treatment unit and who is
3 receiving services from the office of mental health.
4 § 4. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 6 of section 137 of the correction
5 law is REPEALED.
6 § 5. The opening paragraph of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (e) of
7 subdivision 6 of section 137 of the correction law, as added by chapter
8 1 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
9 he or she has a current diagnosis of[, or is diagnosed at the initial
10 or any subsequent assessment conducted during the inmate's segregated
11 confinement with,] one or more of the following types of Axis I diag-
12 noses, as described in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and
13 Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and such diagnoses shall be made
14 based upon all relevant clinical factors, including but not limited to
15 symptoms related to such diagnoses:
16 § 6. Subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (e) of subdivision 6 of section
17 137 of the correction law is REPEALED.
18 § 7. Subdivision 5 of section 401 of the correction law is REPEALED.
19 § 8. Subdivision 2 of section 401-a of the correction law is REPEALED.
20 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 401-a of the correction law, as amended
21 by section 6 of part A of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is amended to
22 read as follows:
23 3. The justice center shall appoint an advisory committee on psychiat-
24 ric correctional care ("committee"), which shall be composed of inde-
25 pendent mental health experts and mental health advocates, and may
26 include family members of former inmates with serious mental illness.
27 Such committee shall advise the justice center on its oversight respon-
28 sibilities pursuant to this section. The committee may also make recom-
29 mendations to the justice center regarding improvements to prison-based
30 mental health care. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to
31 authorize members of the committee to have access to a correctional or
32 mental hygiene facility or any part of such a facility. Provided,
33 however, newly appointed members of the advisory committee shall be
34 provided with a tour of [a segregated confinement unit and] a residen-
35 tial mental health treatment unit, as selected by the commissioner. Any
36 such tour shall be arranged on a date and at a time selected by the
37 commissioner and upon such terms and conditions as are within the sole
38 discretion of the commissioner.
39 § 10. Subdivision 24 of section 553 of the executive law, as added by
40 section 3 of part A of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is amended to
41 read as follows:
42 24. To monitor and make recommendations regarding the quality of care
43 provided to inmates with serious mental illness, including those who are
44 in a residential mental health treatment unit [or segregated confine-
45 ment] in facilities operated by the department of corrections and commu-
46 nity supervision, and oversee compliance with [paragraphs (d) and (e) of
47 subdivision six of section one hundred thirty-seven, and] section four
48 hundred one of the correction law. Such responsibilities shall be
49 carried out in accordance with section four hundred one-a of the
50 correction law;
51 § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.
