BILL NUMBER:S985

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the correction law, in relation to
personal phone calls for inmates in certain circumstances

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow state prison inmates entering solitary confinement in special
housing units (SHU) to make a telephone call upon admission into SHU
and at least once per month thereafter.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision six of section 137 of the
correction law to allow an inmate to make a telephone call upon his or
her admission into solitary confinement including special housing
unit, keeplock and administrative segregation and at least once per
month thereafter.

Section two is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

There are approximately 4,000 inmates confined to a special housing
unit (SHU) within the state prison system as a result of disciplinary
sanctions. Inmates being held in SHU on such sanctions are confined to
              

a SHU cell for 23 hours per day, with an hour of outdoor recreation in
a fenced-in pen or cage, and also lose other privileges including
access to telephone calls, personal property, packages and commissary.
SHU inmates are limited to one visit per week or may be prohibited
from receiving any visits. For a sanction which exceeds six months,
such inmates are transferred to a dedicated SHU facility in either
Chemung or Franklin counties. Since these facilities are far from the
urban and suburban communities where most inmates' families reside,
transfers often result in few, or no, visits during an inmate's
confinement to SHU. Such visits have become even less frequent since
the elimination of the free bus program from the state budget.

Solitary confinement has been found to be a form of torture by the UN
Special Rapporteur for Torture. There is a national movement to end
the excessive use of this form of disciplinary confinement in prisons.
The impact of solitary confinement on the family of an inmate so
confined is a significant burden in its own right. A parent, spouse or
child of the inmate often has no idea of what has happened to his or
her loved one when telephone calls suddenly cease.  While an inmate
has a constitutional right to correspondence, there are times when
postage, paper and writing implements are not present, and
correspondence to and from the correctional facility may be delayed or
unreliable. Permitting inmates to make telephone calls upon admission
into SHU and at monthly intervals thereafter ensures that a mother,
father, spouse or child is not left wondering what has happened to his
or her loved one.

Confinement to special housing unit can last months, and sometimes
years, with numerous deprivations. It is well documented that
maintaining family relations improves inmate behavior and safety
within a facility and increases an inmate's likelihood of success upon


release. In order to ensure that punishment is not excessive and
counterproductive, this bill requires DOCCS to provide an inmate with
access to at least one phone call upon his or her admission into SHU,
and at monthly intervals thereafter.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2014: Referred to the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

Immediately.