Senate Bill S2289

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to courthouse facility dogs for witnesses

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture 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

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions
Votes

2023-S2289 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A3206
Current Committee:
Senate Agriculture
Law Section:
Judiciary Law
Laws Affected:
Add §39-c, Judy L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:
S4616, A8566

2023-S2289 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes courts to exercise discretion permitting a courthouse facility dog for use by witnesses to be used in any judicial proceeding; provides that courts with an available courthouse facility dog must allow a witness under eighteen years of age, or who has a developmental disability, to use a courthouse facility dog to accompany such person while testifying in court; allows any witness who does not meet the criteria of being under eighteen years of age or having a developmental disability to use a courthouse facility dog, if available, to accompany them while testifying in court; defines terms

2023-S2289 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S2289 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2289
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 19, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation  to  courthouse  facility
   dogs
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
 questioning child or adult witnesses about a traumatic  event  in  their
 lives  can  trigger  an acute emotional response. The trigger makes them
 feel or behave the same way they did during  or  immediately  after  the
 traumatic  event  because  the brain may not differentiate what happened
 then from what is going on around them now. These triggers can cause  an
 immediate  emotional  response  that  bypasses the reasoning part of our
 brains, resulting in sudden or unexplained bouts of crying; fear,  para-
 noia,  or  anxiety;  panic attacks; and sudden physical symptoms such as
 nausea or fatigue. For children and adults,  traumatic  events  and  the
 responses  that  result often interfere with their ability to respond to
 questions or testify in court about traumatic events they  have  experi-
 enced or witnessed.
   The  legislature  finds  that children are particularly susceptible to
 adverse effects of exposure to trauma. Children  may  undergo  secondary
 trauma  when they participate in investigation and prosecution of crimes
 and other stressful legal proceedings. The American  academy  of  pedia-
 trics  advises  ongoing psychosocial support for children to address the
 adverse effects of the traumatic event and their  experience  recounting
 it  during the legal process. The American academy of pediatrics identi-
 fies assistance from courthouse facility dogs as an effective  psychoso-
 cial   support   intervention   for   children  participating  in  legal
 proceedings.    The  legislature  finds  that  courthouse  facility  dog
 programs  in our state are innovative community-based interventions. The
 courthouse facility  dog's  calm  companionship  reduces  a  traumatized

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04977-01-3
              

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.