NY State Senate Bill 2021-S15

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Apr 02, 2021	print number 15a
Apr 02, 2021	amend (t) and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
Jan 06, 2021	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

co-Sponsors

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2021-S15 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3475
Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §259-c, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S8581, A6354
2019-2020: S2144, A4319, A9040
2023-2024: S2423, A2035

2021-S15 - Summary

Relates to parole eligibility for certain incarcerated persons age fifty-five or older.

2021-S15 - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S15

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to parole eligibility for
certain inmates aged fifty-five or older

 
PURPOSE:

To create a process to evaluate older prisoners to determine whether
they pose a significant public safety risk.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section  1 adds a new subdivision 18 to section 259-c of the executive
law. Section 2 provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The number of older inmates in our prison system is  rising  every  year
even  as the total inmate population is falling. The population of state
prisoners over the age of 50 has increased by 81 percent since 2000.  On
January 1, 2007, there were 63,304 inmates in the prison system, with an
average age of 36.5. On that date there were 1,572 inmates in the system
over  60  years  of age. Ten years later, on January 1, 2016, there were
52,344 inmates in state correctional facilities, 2,389 of whom were over
the age of 60, and the average age had risen  to  38.2.  The  number  of
inmates  over  60 rose from 2.5 percent of the prison population in 2007
to 4.6 percent in 2016.  Longer minimum sentences since the  1980's  and
lower parole release rates since the 1990's ensure that our prison popu-
lation  will  continue  to age over the coming years, forcing the prison
system to open more geriatric nursing care units and expand the existing
resources for inmates suffering from dementia, diabetes,  heart  disease
and other physical and cognitive disabilities relating to old age.

Crimes  are  largely  committed  by young people. Older inmates who have
served long sentences present the lowest risk of recidivism of any other
class of inmates.

This bill permits the Board of Parole to evaluate all inmates  over  the
age  of  55  who  have  served  at least 15 years in prison for possible
parole release. It does not mandate release, but  allows  the  Board  to
make a public safety assessment to see whether an elderly inmate is safe
to be released to parole supervision even if he or she has not completed
his  or  her  minimum  sentence and to have the discretion to grant such
release.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

This bill will save the state money if it results in an increase in  the
release  rate  of  older  prisoners  who  might otherwise need expensive
medical care and specialized housing within the prison system.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.2144 of  2019-2020  (Hoylman):  Died  in  Crime  Victims,  Crime,  and
Corrections
A.9040 of 2009-2020 (De La Rosa): Died in Correction
S.8581  of  2017-2018  (Hoylman):  Died  in  Crime  Victims,  Crime  and
Correction
A.6354-A of 2017-2018 (Weprin): Died in Codes

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2021-S15 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    15
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. HOYLMAN, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, COMRIE, GIANARIS, HARCK-
   HAM, JACKSON, KRUEGER, MAYER, MYRIE, PARKER, PERSAUD,  RAMOS,  RIVERA,
   SALAZAR,  SANDERS,  SAVINO, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY -- 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 parole eligibility for
   certain inmates aged fifty-five or older
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section 259-c of the executive law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 18 to read as follows:
   18. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER SECTION OF THE LAW, WHERE A PERSON SERV-
 ING A SENTENCE OF INCARCERATION HAS SERVED AT LEAST FIFTEEN YEARS  OF  A
 DETERMINATE  OR INDETERMINATE SENTENCE AND HAS REACHED THE AGE OF FIFTY-
 FIVE OR GREATER, THE BOARD SHALL CONDUCT  A  HEARING  PURSUANT  TO  THIS
 SECTION  AND  SECTION TWO HUNDRED FIFTY NINE-I OF THIS ARTICLE TO DETER-
 MINE WHETHER SUCH PERSON SHOULD BE RELEASED TO COMMUNITY SUPERVISION. IF
 THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT THERE IS A  REASONABLE  PROBABILITY  THAT,  IF
 SUCH PERSON IS RELEASED, HE OR SHE WILL LIVE AND REMAIN AT LIBERTY WITH-
 OUT  VIOLATING  THE  LAW AND THAT HIS OR HER RELEASE IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE
 WITH THE WELFARE OF SOCIETY, THEN THE BOARD SHALL RELEASE THE PERSON  TO
 COMMUNITY  SUPERVISION  EVEN  IF  THE  PERSON HAS NOT SERVED THE MINIMUM
 SENTENCE IMPOSED BY THE JUDGE. IF RELEASE TO  COMMUNITY  SUPERVISION  IS
 NOT GRANTED, THE INMATE SHALL BE INFORMED IN WRITING WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF
 SUCH  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  FACTORS  AND  REASONS  FOR THE DENIAL OF SUCH
 RELEASE AND THE BOARD SHALL SPECIFY A DATE  NOT  MORE  THAN  TWENTY-FOUR
 MONTHS  FROM  SUCH DETERMINATION FOR RECONSIDERATION, AND THE PROCEDURES
 TO BE FOLLOWED UPON RECONSIDERATION SHALL BE THE  SAME.  IF  RELEASE  TO
 COMMUNITY SUPERVISION IS GRANTED, THE BOARD SHALL SET RELEASE CONDITIONS
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD02819-01-1

 S. 15                               2
 
 AND  THE  PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL OTHERWISE APPLY AS THOUGH THE
 INMATE WAS RELEASED AFTER THE COMPLETION OF HIS OR HER MINIMUM SENTENCE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

co-Sponsors

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2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3475
Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §259-c, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S8581, A6354
2019-2020: S2144, A4319, A9040
2023-2024: S2423, A2035

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to parole eligibility for certain incarcerated persons age fifty-five or older.

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S15A

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to parole eligibility for
certain incarcerated persons aged fifty-five or older

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill adds new subdivisions 18 and 19 to section 259-c
of the Executive Law ("State board of parole; functions, powers and
duties").

-Sub. 18: provides that a person 55 or older who has served at least 15
years of a sentence shall have an interview with the Board of Parole to
determine whether they should be released to community supervision with-
in 60 days of their 55th birthday or the last day of the 15th year of
their sentence, whichever is later. If release is not granted, the
person shall have a subsequent interview no more than 24 months later.

-Sub. 19: requires the Board of Parole to report quarterly to the Gover-

nor, Legislature and public about the outcomes of elder parole.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

After decades of harsh sentencing practices, New York State holds the
shameful distinction of having the third-largest population of people
serving terms of life imprisonment in the country. Hundreds of incarcer-
ated New Yorkers - parents, grandparents and great-grandparents - may
never live to have an. individualized release assessment, no matter how
much they have changed in the years and decades since their conviction.
People serving life sentences are disproportionately Black and Latinx,
and they are aging rapidly behind bars.

The perpetual confinement of aging and elderly people is particularly
immoral as studies show that rearrest rates for older adults released
from prison are vanishingly small, particularly for those originally
convicted of serious crimes. However, even as New York's prison popu-
lation declined in the last two decades, the number of elders behind
bars grew substantially. New York has the second-largest prison budget
in the nation, spending between $100,000 and $240,000 annually for each
incarcerated older adult, which the New York State Department of
Correction and Community Supervision (DOCCS) defines as adults 55 years
of age or older, due to the accelerated aging people experience while in
prison.

There is a growing consensus among people across the political spectrum
that mass incarceration is ineffective, flawed, and racially biased. It
harms, rather than improves, community health and safety.  Elder parole
would ensure that older adults serving long sentences have an opportu-
nity before the Parole Board to demonstrate their transformation. It
would not require anyone, regardless of their age; to be released. Rath-
er, it would empower the Parole Board to use its discretion by individ-
ually evaluating a person based on the factors established in Section
259-I of the Executive Law.

This legislation would bring hope to incarcerated people who have worked
hard to change, as well as their families. It would allow people the
chance to safely return to their communities and save the state hundreds
of millions of dollars that could be reinvested to meet critical commu-
nity needs.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.2144 of 2019-2020 (Hoylman): Died in Crime Victims, Crime, and
Correction
A.9040 of 2009-2020 (De La Rosa): Died in Correction
S.8581 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction
A.6354-A of 2017-2018 (Weprin): Died in Codes

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided that all persons who
meet the eligibility requirements established by section one of this act
upon the effective date of this act shall be interviewed within sixty
days of such date.

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   15--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  HOYLMAN, BAILEY, BENJAMIN, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, BRIS-
   PORT, COMRIE,  COONEY,  GIANARIS,  HARCKHAM,  JACKSON,  KRUEGER,  LIU,
   MAYER,  MYRIE, PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SAVI-
   NO, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY -- read twice  and  ordered  printed,
   and  when  printed  to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims,
   Crime and Correction -- committee discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
   reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to parole eligibility for
   certain incarcerated persons aged fifty-five or older
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 259-c of the executive law is amended by adding two
 new subdivisions 18 and 19 to read as follows:
   18. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER SECTION OF LAW, WHERE A PERSON SERVING A
 SENTENCE OF INCARCERATION HAS SERVED AT LEAST  FIFTEEN  YEARS  OF  THEIR
 SENTENCE  OR SENTENCES AND HAS REACHED THE AGE OF FIFTY-FIVE OR GREATER,
 CONDUCT AN INTERVIEW WITHIN SIXTY DAYS  OF  THE  DATE  OF  THE  PERSON'S
 FIFTY-FIFTH  BIRTHDAY  OR  THE  LAST  DAY OF THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF THEIR
 SENTENCE, WHICHEVER IS LATER, PURSUANT TO  SECTION  TWO  HUNDRED  FIFTY-
 NINE-I  OF  THIS  ARTICLE  TO  DETERMINE  WHETHER  SUCH PERSON SHOULD BE
 RELEASED TO COMMUNITY SUPERVISION. IF THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT  RELEASE
 IS   APPROPRIATE   PURSUANT  TO  THE  TERMS    OF  SECTION  TWO  HUNDRED
 FIFTY-NINE-I OF THIS ARTICLE, THEN THE BOARD SHALL RELEASE THE PERSON TO
 COMMUNITY SUPERVISION.   IF RELEASE  TO  COMMUNITY  SUPERVISION  IS  NOT
 GRANTED,  THE  PERSON  SHALL  BE INFORMED IN WRITING WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF
 SUCH APPEARANCE OF THE FACTORS  AND  REASONS  FOR  THE  DENIAL  OF  SUCH
 RELEASE  AND  THE  BOARD  SHALL SPECIFY A DATE NOT MORE THAN TWENTY-FOUR
 MONTHS FROM SUCH DETERMINATION FOR RECONSIDERATION, AND  THE  PROCEDURES
 TO  BE  FOLLOWED  UPON  RECONSIDERATION SHALL BE THE SAME. IF RELEASE TO
 COMMUNITY SUPERVISION IS GRANTED, THE BOARD SHALL SET RELEASE CONDITIONS
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02819-07-1

 S. 15--A                            2
 
 AND THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL OTHERWISE APPLY AS  THOUGH  THE
 PERSON WAS RELEASED AFTER THE COMPLETION OF HIS OR HER MINIMUM SENTENCE.
 THE  RELEASE  ASSESSMENT  AND DETERMINATION REQUIRED BY THIS SUBDIVISION
 SHALL  BE IN ADDITION TO, AND MAY NOT REPLACE, OTHER RELEASE ASSESSMENTS
 AND DETERMINATIONS REQUIRED BY LAW.
   19. SUBMIT REPORTS, QUARTERLY, TO THE GOVERNOR, THE  TEMPORARY  PRESI-
 DENT  OF THE SENATE, THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, THE MINORITY LEADER OF
 THE SENATE, THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE ASSEMBLY, THE CHAIRPERSON OF  THE
 SENATE  COMMITTEE ON CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION, AND THE CHAIR-
 PERSON OF THE ASSEMBLY  COMMITTEE  ON  CORRECTION.  SUCH  REPORTS  SHALL
 INCLUDE:  (I)  THE  NUMBER  OF  PAROLE  INTERVIEWS  HELD PURSUANT TO THE
 REQUIREMENTS OF SUBDIVISION EIGHTEEN OF THIS SECTION; (II) THE  OUTCOMES
 OF  PAROLE  INTERVIEWS  HELD PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF SUBDIVISION
 EIGHTEEN OF THIS SECTION; AND (III) WHERE PAROLE WAS DENIED FOLLOWING AN
 INTERVIEW HELD PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF SUBDIVISION  EIGHTEEN  OF
 THIS  SECTION,  THE  ARTICULATED REASONS FOR EACH DENIAL, THE MEMBERS OF
 THE BOARD ASSIGNED IN EACH CASE AND A RECORD OF  THEIR  VOTES,  AND  THE
 RACE,  SEX,  FACILITY, AND CRIME OF CONVICTION OF EACH DENIED APPLICANT.
 SUCH REPORTS SHALL NOT INCLUDE PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION ABOUT
 APPLICANTS.  REPORTS REQUIRED BY THIS  SUBDIVISION  SHALL  BE  PUBLISHED
 QUARTERLY ON A PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE MAINTAINED BY THE BOARD.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that all persons
 who meet the eligibility requirements established by section one of this
 act  upon  the  effective  date  of this act shall be interviewed within
 sixty days of such date.

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Senate Bill S15

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2021-S15 - Details

2021-S15 - Summary

2021-S15 - Sponsor Memo

2021-S15 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S15

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Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2021-S15 - Details

2021-S15 - Summary

2021-S15 - Sponsor Memo

2021-S15 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S15A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments