NY State Senate Bill 2023-S2423

Current 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 03, 2024	referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Jan 20, 2023	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

co-Sponsors

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2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A2035
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
2021-2022: S15, A3475, A8855

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S2423

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
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.0015-A of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Crime Victims, Crime, and
Correction

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.

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2423
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 20, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  HOYLMAN-SIGAL,  BAILEY, BRESLIN, BRISPORT, BROUK,
   CLEARE,  COMRIE,  COONEY,  GIANARIS,   HARCKHAM,   HINCHEY,   JACKSON,
   KAVANAGH, KENNEDY, KRUEGER, LIU, MAYER, MYRIE, PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS,
   RIVERA,  SALAZAR,  SANDERS, 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 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
 AND  THE  PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL OTHERWISE APPLY AS THOUGH THE
 PERSON WAS RELEASED AFTER THE COMPLETION OF HIS OR HER MINIMUM SENTENCE.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02069-01-3

 S. 2423                             2
 
 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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Anonymous

1 year ago

I would like to know where these numbers come from. NYS is one of the most populous states yet we rank around 10-11 for incarceration.

I wonder WHICH crimes would be considered under this law. What will the victim receive? They get a “life” sentence, no mater how you justify this ruling. Many 55 year olds are quite healthy and still able to create considerable damage.

No, I oppose this ruling.

Valerie_Trotta

1 year ago

This is ridiculous, why even give a person a life sentence? It is an absolute slap in the face to their victims and families and loved ones to even consider an age limit of incarceration. Those victims are permanently serving a life sentence of what the criminal has imposed.

Brian_Phillips_3

1 year ago

I oppose this bill, this is absurd considering the rate of crime in this state.

Anonymous

1 year ago

Please do not pass this Bill. NY, Rochester specifically, is already feeling the effects of other laws passed that do not punish criminals. Appearance tickets...ridiculous. Car thefts, murders, assults...this city is out of control. Now you want to allow the most dangerous criminals a chance at parole just because of age and time served? Mr. Cooney you are very out of touch with the people you represent if you think this is what your constituents want.

Anonymous

1 year ago

Please we can not have this bill passed. A family member was beaten raped then strangled left naked to die in an alley in the cold of February 1995. Her murder lived his life for 15 years until a DNA match in 2008 surfaced. He was successfully convicted and given a life sentence. This man should not be released. Can not believe any one would want to support this bill and give a cold blooded murderer a chance at getting an early parole possibility . New York State we must do better!!!!

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Senate Bill S2423

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

co-Sponsors

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S2423

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Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

co-Sponsors

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S2423 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments