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A07873 Summary:

BILL NOA07873
 
SAME ASSAME AS S07282
 
SPONSORMeeks
 
COSPNSREpstein, Rosenthal, Tapia, Gonzalez-Rojas, Romero, Solages, Cruz, Hevesi, Lavine, Anderson, Raga, Gibbs, Taylor, Bores, De Los Santos, O'Pharrow, Walker, Hooks, Lucas, Gallagher, Simon, Lee, Reyes, Wright, Dais, Jackson, Valdez, Benedetto, Burdick, Carroll R, Levenberg, Shrestha, Mamdani, Lasher, Forrest
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §16, Civ Rts L; add §172, amd §2, Cor L
 
Ends involuntary servitude in state and local correctional facilities in New York state.
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A07873 Actions:

BILL NOA07873
 
04/11/2025referred to correction
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A07873 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7873
 
SPONSOR: Meeks
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil rights law and the correction law, in relation to ending slavery for incarcerated individuals in New York state   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill would formally abolish slavery, involuntary servitude, and forced labor in New York State prisons, and, by doing so, would end one of the last vestiges of slavery in our state.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 provides the title of the bill, "No Slavery in New York Act." Section 2 amends article 2 of the civil rights law by adding a new section to abolish slavery, involuntary servitude, and forced labor for persons convicted of crimes. Section 3 amends article 7 of the correction law by adding a new section to prohibit labor that is compelled, induced or otherwise provided against an incarcerated indi- vidual's will by force, threat of force, or other adverse action. Section 4 amends section 2 of the correction law by adding a new subdi- vision, which defines "adverse action" to include the use of the insti- tutional rules, regulations, and disciplinary process referenced in Section 138 of the correction law. Section 5 provides for a severabili- ty clause if any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this act shall be adjudged to be invalid. Section 6 provides for the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: Slavery, involuntary servitude, and forced labor are not New York values. However, while the New York State legislature passed legislation in 1817 to free thousands of African American New Yorkers by 1827, New York stands apart from most states in having no provision in modern-day law barring the practice of slavery. Even after the passage of the 13" Amendment which banned chattel slavery except for those convicted of crimes, New York remained silent. Unlike most states, New York's present-day law has no provisions abolishing slavery. Since 2018, eight states - Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont and Nevada - have voted to amend their state laws, to make the use of slavery and forced labor in prisons illegal. It is far past time that New York recognize an unqualified, formal prohibition on slavery in state law. Further, the state must take steps to address the modern-day prison labor system, which shamefully has its roots in New York State. Pioneered more than 200 years ago at Auburn Prison in Auburn, New York, the Auburn System was designed to force incarcerated New Yorkers to work for no pay producing goods and services that could then be sold for profit. The goal was eventually to create a prison labor industry that could offset the costs of incarceration. Little has changed. People in New York carceral facilities are still forced-sometimes in unsafe condi- tions or without proper protective gear-to work under threat of punish- ment for as little as ten cents an hour. Their forced labor produces goods and services like asbestos and lead removal, furniture for SUNY and NYC schools, government office furniture, eyeglasses, trash cans, license plates, as well as the hundreds of prison maintenance jobs that keep the system running. Forced labor, penny wages, and lack of legal protections have led numerous scholars to conclude that the current labor conditions inside state and federal prisons are a direct outgrowth of slavery. It is incumbent on us all to remove one of the last vestiges of slavery and reform the current system, which violates human rights and is an affront to human dignity.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A3412/5308 of 2021-22: Opinion referred to Judiciary A8661/56781 of 2019-20: Opinion referred to Judiciary   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediate.
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A07873 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7873
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 11, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. MEEKS -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Correction
 
        AN ACT to amend the civil rights law and the correction law, in relation
          to ending slavery for incarcerated individuals in New York state
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "no slavery in New York act".
     3    § 2. The civil rights law is amended by adding a  new  section  16  to
     4  read as follows:
     5    §  16.  Abolition of slavery, involuntary servitude, and forced labor.
     6  Neither slavery,  involuntary  servitude,  nor  forced  labor  shall  be
     7  permitted  to  exist  in  the  state  of New York, including for persons
     8  convicted of a crime.
     9    § 3. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 172 to read
    10  as follows:
    11    § 172. Prohibition on labor that is compelled or induced in  New  York
    12  carceral  facilities.  No  incarcerated  individual  in any correctional
    13  facility or local correctional facility shall be compelled or induced to
    14  provide labor against such individual's will by force or  other  adverse
    15  action against the incarcerated individual or against another person, or
    16  by any reasonably feared threat thereof.
    17    § 4. Section 2 of the correction law is amended by adding a new subdi-
    18  vision 35 to read as follows:
    19    35.  "Adverse  action"  includes  the  use of the institutional rules,
    20  regulations, and the disciplinary  process  referenced  in  section  one
    21  hundred thirty-eight of this chapter.
    22    § 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
    23  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
    24  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
    25  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11173-01-5

        A. 7873                             2
 
     1  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
     2  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
     3  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
     4  the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
     5  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
     6    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
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