Restricts the use of segregated confinement and creates alternative therapeutic and rehabilitative confinement options; limits the length of time a person may be in segregated confinement and excludes certain persons from being placed in segregated confinement.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3080B
SPONSOR: Aubry (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the correction law, in relation to
restricting the use of segregated confinement and creating alternative
therapeutic and rehabilitative confinement options
PURPOSE:
This bill will be known as the "Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Soli-
tary Confinement" Act (the HALT Solitary Confinement Act.) This bill
would limit the time an inmate can spend in segregated confinement, end
the segregated confinement of vulnerable people, restrict the criteria
that can result in such confinement, improve conditions of confinement,
and create more humane and effective alternatives to such confinement.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 clarifies that the bill's provisions apply to all types and
locations of segregated confinement.
Section 2 defines "special populations" and "residential rehabilitation
units".
Section 3 prohibits the use of special diets as punishment.
Section 4 provides for mental health screening and a heightened level of
care for prisoners placed into segregated confinement or residential
rehabilitation units.
Section 5 prohibits placement of individuals who are in one of the
special populations in SHU and limits their keep-lock placement to 48
hours; prohibits placement of any inmate in segregated confinement for
more than 15 consecutive days or 20 out of 60 days unless specific acts
are committed while in such confinement; specifies certain conditions of
confinement and programs within residential rehabilitation units;
creates a safety exception for people committing serious disciplinary
infractions in SHU and residential rehabilitation units; prohibits the
use of restraints in the residential rehabilitation units unless neces-
sary for safety and security; prohibits placement of individuals in
protective custody in segregated confinement; provides for periodic
review of a person's placement in residential rehabilitation units;
reinstates lost good time for successful completion of the residential
rehabilitation unit program goals; provides for training of staff; and
provides for public reporting.
Section 6 creates a preference for non-disciplinary interventions by the
department.
Section 7 provides that services in residential mental health treatment
units shall be at least comparable to services in residential rehabili-
tation units.
Section 8 provides that inmates in residential mental health treatment
units may be moved to residential rehabilitation units under certain
circumstances.
Section 9 limits the removal of inmates with mental illness from resi-
dential mental health units to residential rehabilitation units unless
they commit specified acts of misconduct.
Section 10 provides for staff training.
Section 11 provides for Justice Center oversight of segregated confine-
ment and residential rehabilitation units.
Section 12 provides for Commission of Correction oversight of segregated
confinement in jails.
Section 13 provides for sections of the law to apply to jails.
Section 14 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill aims to make New York's prison and jail practices more humane.
The bill limits the length of time anyone can spend in segregated
confinement, restricts the criteria that can result in such confinement,
provides additional procedural protections prior to such confinement,
and exempts certain vulnerable groups. The bill also provides an alter-
native mechanism for working with people who engage in serious violence
or other problematic behavior.
Studies have consistently found that subjecting people to segregated
confinement for twenty-two to twenty-four hours a day without meaningful
human contact, programming, or therapy can cause deep and permanent
psychological, physical, developmental, and social harm. People often
have more difficulty complying with prison rules after being placed in
segregated confinement. Segregated confinement can be particularly
devastating for certain vulnerable people, such as young or elderly
people, pregnant women, and people with disabilities or trauma histo-
ries. Other states have dramatically reduced the number of people in
segregated confinement, and seen positive benefits in terms of safety
and decreased violence.
Despite the tremendous harm caused by massive isolation of thousands of
incarcerated persons, New York prisons and jails currently impose segre-
gated confinement routinely for too long a period of time. On any given
day, there are nearly 3,000 people, disproportionately people of color,
in state prisons in Special Housing Units (SHU) and thousands more in
other forms of isolation. There are also hundreds of people in segre-
gated confinement in jails in New York City alone. Despite claims that
segregated confinement is used in response to the most violent behavior,
five out of six disciplinary infractions that result in SHU time in New
York prisons are for non-violent conduct. Moreover, people routinely
suffer in segregated confinement for months, years,and even decades in
New York.
A growing chorus of individuals, organizations, and policy-makers has
called for a dramatic transformation and curtailment of the use of
segregated confinement. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture
concluded that solitary confinement can amount to torture and recom-
mended abolishing its use beyond 15 days and prohibiting any use of
solitary for vulnerable groups or purposes of punishment. The New York
Civil Liberties Union and others have issued reports documenting the
arbitrary and unjustified use of segregated confinement in New York and
the negative impact its use has on incarcerated persons, staff, and
safety in our prisons and communities. The New York State Bar Associ-
ation has called upon the state and city corrections departments to
profoundly restrict the use of segregated confinement, end segregated
confinement beyond 15 days, adopt stringent criteria for any separation
and ensure any separation is for the briefest period and in the least
restrictive conditions practicable. This bill takes up the growing call
to limit segregated confinement and provide more humane and effective
alternatives.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8588-A was amended and recommitted to correction in 2014.
A.4401 was referred to correction in 2015 and 2016.
A.3080 was amended in 2018.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect one year after it becomes law.
