S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7224

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              April 7, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  MURPHY -- 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, in relation to statements made to the
  state board of parole by the victim of a crime

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  S 1. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph (c) of  subdivision  2  of  section
259-i  of the executive law, as amended by section 38-f-1 of the subpart
A of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  (A)  Discretionary  release on parole shall not be granted merely as a
reward for  good  conduct  or  efficient  performance  of  duties  while
confined  but  after  considering  if  there is a reasonable probability
that, if such inmate is released, he will live  and  remain  at  liberty
without violating the law, and that his release is not incompatible with
the  welfare of society and will not so deprecate the seriousness of his
crime as to undermine respect for law.  In  making  the  parole  release
decision, the procedures adopted pursuant to subdivision four of section
two  hundred fifty-nine-c of this article shall require that the follow-
ing be considered: (i) the institutional record including program  goals
and accomplishments, academic achievements, vocational education, train-
ing  or  work  assignments,  therapy  and  interactions  with  staff and
inmates; (ii) performance, if any,  as  a  participant  in  a  temporary
release  program;  (iii)  release  plans  including community resources,
employment, education and training and support services available to the
inmate; (iv) any deportation order  issued  by  the  federal  government
against the inmate while in the custody of the department and any recom-
mendation  regarding deportation made by the commissioner of the depart-
ment pursuant to section one hundred forty-seven of the correction  law;
(v) any CURRENT OR PRIOR statement made to the board by the crime victim
or the victim's representative, where the crime victim is deceased or is
mentally or physically incapacitated; (vi) the length of the determinate
sentence  to  which the inmate would be subject had he or she received a

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD14871-01-6

S. 7224                             2

sentence pursuant to section 70.70 or section 70.71 of the penal law for
a felony defined in article two hundred twenty or  article  two  hundred
twenty-one  of  the penal law; (vii) the seriousness of the offense with
due consideration to the type of sentence, length of sentence and recom-
mendations  of the sentencing court, the district attorney, the attorney
for the inmate, the pre-sentence probation report as well  as  consider-
ation  of any mitigating and aggravating factors, and activities follow-
ing arrest prior to  confinement;  and  (viii)  prior  criminal  record,
including the nature and pattern of offenses, adjustment to any previous
probation or parole supervision and institutional confinement. The board
shall  provide toll free telephone access for crime victims. In the case
of an oral statement made in accordance with subdivision one of  section
440.50  of  the  criminal  procedure  law, the parole board member shall
present a written report of the statement to the parole board.  A  crime
victim's  representative shall mean the crime victim's closest surviving
relative, the committee or guardian of such person, or the legal  repre-
sentative  of any such person. Such statement submitted by the victim or
victim's representative may include information  concerning  threatening
or  intimidating conduct toward the victim, the victim's representative,
or the victim's family, made by the person sentenced and occurring after
the sentencing. Such information may include, but need  not  be  limited
to,  the  threatening or intimidating conduct of any other person who or
which is directed by the person sentenced. ANY STATEMENT BY A VICTIM  OR
THE VICTIM'S REPRESENTATIVE MADE TO THE BOARD SHALL BE MAINTAINED BY THE
DEPARTMENT  IN  THE  FILE  PROVIDED  TO  THE BOARD WHEN INTERVIEWING THE
INMATE IN CONSIDERATION OF RELEASE. A VICTIM OR VICTIM'S  REPRESENTATIVE
WHO HAS SUBMITTED A WRITTEN REQUEST TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE TRANSCRIPT
OF  SUCH  INTERVIEW  SHALL  BE  PROVIDED  SUCH  TRANSCRIPT AS SOON AS IT
BECOMES AVAILABLE.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
have become a law.