A06430 Summary:

BILL NOA06430A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S00983-A
 
SPONSORPerry
 
COSPNSRRozic
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd S611, Cor L
 
Relates to the restraint of pregnant female prisoners during childbirth.
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A06430 Actions:

BILL NOA06430A
 
03/24/2015referred to correction
05/27/2015amend and recommit to correction
05/27/2015print number 6430a
06/02/2015reported referred to rules
06/10/2015reported
06/10/2015rules report cal.254
06/10/2015ordered to third reading rules cal.254
06/15/2015passed assembly
06/15/2015delivered to senate
06/15/2015REFERRED TO RULES
06/23/2015SUBSTITUTED FOR S983A
06/23/2015PASSED SENATE
06/23/2015RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
12/16/2015delivered to governor
12/22/2015signed chap.570
12/22/2015approval memo.25
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A06430 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6430A
 
SPONSOR: Perry
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the correction law, in relation to the restraint of pregnant female prisoners during childbirth   PURPOSE: To strengthen the prohibition against shackling women prisoners during labor.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends Correction Law § 611 to clarify the exception to the rule against shackling women in labor and to expand the anti-shackling law to include any pregnant woman or woman during a postpartum period of 8 weeks. Section 2 provides an effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: In 2009 the State Legislature amended section 611 of the correction law to specify that women prison and jail inmates who are in labor cannot be shackled during transport to the place where they will give birth or during labor, delivery and recovery absent extraordinary circumstances. In spite of this legislation, incarcerated women are still sometimes being shackled illegally during transport, labor and delivery. The intention of this bill is to require preapproval of shackling by the superintendent of a prison or a county sheriff and to remove the author- ity for deciding there are extraordinary circumstances from the correc- tional staff providing transportation or accompanying a woman into a hospital. The bill also expands the prohibition against shackling to include pregnant women in general and women who are up to eight weeks postpartum. It also requires that notice of this section of the law be given to all women in correctional facilities upon admission and to any woman who is known to be pregnant. The bill also requires an annual report to the legislature about the circumstances under which women are shackled pursuant to the extraordinary circumstances exception.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: none   LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: none   EFFECTIVE DATE: immediately.
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A06430 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         6430--A
 
                               2015-2016 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     March 24, 2015
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. PERRY, ROZIC -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Correction -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the correction law, in  relation  to  the  restraint  of
          pregnant female prisoners during childbirth
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 611  of  the  correction  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  411  of  the  laws  of 2009, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    1. (a) If a woman confined in any institution [as defined in paragraph
     5  c of subdivision four of section two of the  correction  law]  or  local
     6  correctional  facility  [as  defined  in  paragraph  (a)  of subdivision
     7  sixteen of section two of the correction law,] be pregnant and about  to
     8  give  birth  to  a  child, the superintendent [as defined in subdivision
     9  twelve of section two of the correction law] or sheriff [as  defined  in
    10  paragraph c of subdivision sixteen of section two of the correction law]
    11  in  charge of such institution or facility, a reasonable time before the
    12  anticipated birth of such child, shall cause such woman  to  be  removed
    13  from such institution or facility and provided with comfortable accommo-
    14  dations,  maintenance and medical care elsewhere, under such supervision
    15  and safeguards to prevent her escape from custody as the  superintendent
    16  or  sheriff  or  his or her designee may determine. No restraints of any
    17  kind shall be used during transport [to or from the  hospital,  institu-
    18  tion  or  clinic where] of such woman [receives care; provided, however,
    19  in  extraordinary  circumstances,  where  restraints  are  necessary  to
    20  prevent  such  woman  from  injuring  herself or medical or correctional
    21  personnel, such woman may  be  cuffed  by  one  wrist.  In  cases  where
    22  restraints  are used, the superintendent or sheriff shall make and main-
    23  tain written findings as to the reasons for such use], a  woman  who  is
    24  known  to  be  pregnant  or a woman within eight weeks after delivery or
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02990-02-5

        A. 6430--A                          2
 
     1  pregnancy outcome receives care absent  extraordinary  circumstances  in
     2  which  the superintendent or sheriff or his or her designee in consulta-
     3  tion with the chief medical officer has made an individualized  determi-
     4  nation that restraints are necessary to prevent such woman from injuring
     5  herself  or  medical  or  correctional  personnel  or  others and cannot
     6  reasonably be restrained by other means, including the use of additional
     7  personnel. If a determination has been made that  extraordinary  circum-
     8  stances  exist then restraints shall be limited to handcuffs in front of
     9  the body. The superintendent or sheriff or his  or  her  designee  shall
    10  document the facts upon which the finding of extraordinary circumstances
    11  were based within five days of the use of such restraints and shall also
    12  document  the  type  of  restraints  used  and  the  length of time such
    13  restraints were used. No restraints of any kind shall be used when  such
    14  woman  is  in  labor,  admitted to a hospital, institution or clinic for
    15  delivery, or recovering after giving birth. Any such personnel as may be
    16  necessary to supervise the woman during transport to and from and during
    17  her stay at the hospital, institution or clinic  shall  be  provided  to
    18  ensure  adequate  care, custody and control of the woman, except that no
    19  correctional staff shall be present in  the  delivery  room  during  the
    20  birth  of  a baby unless requested by the medical staff supervising such
    21  delivery or by the woman giving birth. The superintendent or sheriff  or
    22  his  or  her  designee shall cause such woman to be subject to return to
    23  such institution or local correctional facility as soon after the  birth
    24  of her child as the state of her health will permit as determined by the
    25  medical  professional  responsible  for  the care of such woman. If such
    26  woman is confined in a local correctional facility, the expense of  such
    27  accommodation,  maintenance and medical care shall be paid by such woman
    28  or her relatives or from any available funds of the  local  correctional
    29  facility  and if not available from such sources, shall be a charge upon
    30  the county, city or town in which is located the court from  which  such
    31  inmate  was committed to such local correctional facility. If such woman
    32  is confined in any institution under the control of the department,  the
    33  expense  of  such  accommodation,  maintenance and medical care shall be
    34  paid by such woman or her relatives  and  if  not  available  from  such
    35  sources,  such  maintenance and medical care shall be paid by the state.
    36  In cases where payment of such accommodations, maintenance  and  medical
    37  care  is  assumed by the county, city or town from which such inmate was
    38  committed the payor shall make payment by issuing payment instrument  in
    39  favor  of the agency or individual that provided such accommodations and
    40  services, after certification has been made by the head of the  institu-
    41  tion to which the inmate was legally confined, that the charges for such
    42  accommodations,  maintenance  and  medical  care  were necessary and are
    43  just, and that the institution has no available funds for such purpose.
    44    (b) Any woman confined in an institution or local correctional facili-
    45  ty shall receive notice in writing in a language and manner  understand-
    46  able to her about the requirements of this section upon her admission to
    47  an  institution  or  local  correctional  facility and again when she is
    48  known to be pregnant. The superintendent or sheriff shall publish notice
    49  of the requirements of this section in prominent locations where medical
    50  care is provided. The department and the sheriff  shall  provide  annual
    51  training on provisions of this section to all correctional personnel who
    52  are  involved  in  the  transportation,  supervision  or medical care of
    53  incarcerated women.
    54    (c) The department and sheriff shall report annually to the  governor,
    55  the  temporary  president  of  the  senate,  the  minority leader of the
    56  senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of  the  assem-

        A. 6430--A                          3
 
     1  bly,  the  chairperson of the senate crime victims, crime and correction
     2  committee and the  chairperson  of  the  assembly  correction  committee
     3  concerning  every  use  of  restraints on a woman under this section but
     4  shall exclude individual identifying information.
     5    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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