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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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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.
