Amd §4141, Pub Health L; amd §677, County L; add §837-y, Exec L; add §139-m, St Fin L
Prohibits the use of the term "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death on death certificates, autopsy reports, police reports or any report, policy or procedure by a public agency or contractor; defines excited delirium.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9414A
SPONSOR: Gonzalez-Rojas TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, the county law, the executive law
and the state finance law, in relation to prohibiting the use of the
term excited delirium as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death
PURPOSE:
Prohibits the use of the term 'excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label,
or cause of death.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 4 of section 4141 of the public health law
by adding a new paragraph (e) establishes that no death certificate can
cite "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label, cause of death, or
contributing factor to any death. Defines the term "excited delirium" to
describe a person's state that is not listed in the current version of
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which
the court finds there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic
criteria to be recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also
includes excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive deli-
rium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
Section 2 amends section 677 of the county law by adding a new subdivi-
sion 2a establishes that no report of any autopsy or other examination
shall cite '"excited delirium" as a cause or means of death. Defines the
term the same as Section 1.
Section 3 amends the executive law by adding a new section 837-y. Under
837y the bill, 1. prohibiting the use of "excited delirium" by law
enforcement officers or peace officers in reports. 2. No law enforcement
or peace officer shall take action, nor any training be provided that
encourages action in response to an individual being reported or diag-
nosed as "excited delirium". 3. Defines the term same as Section 1.
Section 4 amends the state finance law by adding a new section 139-m.
1. Used in this action (a)defines "contractor", (b) defines "public
agency", (c) defines "Excited delirium". 2. No employee of a public
agency, contractor, or employee of a contractor shall issue a diagnosis,
report as a cause of death or contributing factor to death or conduct
any trainings or share materials attesting to the validity of "excited
delirium" as a cause of death. 3. No public agency or contractor shall
adopt or maintain any policy or procedure that acknowledges the validity
of the diagnosis, cause of death, or label of "excited delirium."
Section 5 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
"Excited Delirium" is a non-scientific term with a no scientific basis
as a legitimate diagnosis or cause of death, that is consistently used
to excuse and/or justify use of force against civilians by law enforce-
ment along with coroners and/or medical examiners to severe the
connection between the excessive force and the cause of death. Accord-
ing to New York Focus, the American Psychological Association denounced
the syndrome in 2020, expressing concern that it's "too non-specific"
and that "there have been no rigorous studies validating excited deliri-
um as a medical diagnosis." In 2021, the American Medical Association
decried it as "justification for excessive police force, disproportion-
ately cited in cases where Black men die in law enforcement custody."
A December 2021 Virginia Law Review article found that "between 2010 and
.2020, Black people accounted for 43 percent of in-custody deaths that
named excited delirium as a possible cause, despite making up 13 percent
of the US population."
This concept has a racist history where it relies heavily on racist
tropes, including but not limited to "superhuman strength." This specif-
ically targets black and brown civilians, along with many minority
communities. To ensure proper safety and protection to our communities
from law enforcement this change should be made to protect and ensure
proper justice to our civilians.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9414--A
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS, LUNSFORD, CLARK, MEEKS, EPSTEIN,
SIMON, TAYLOR, DAVILA -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, the county law, the executive law
and the state finance law, in relation to prohibiting the use of the
term excited delirium as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 4141 of the public health law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
3 (e) No death certificate shall cite excited delirium as a diagnosis,
4 label, cause of death, or contributing factor to any death. For the
5 purposes of this paragraph, the term "excited delirium" shall mean a
6 term used to describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, para-
7 noia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to
8 pain that is not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic
9 and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds
10 there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be
11 recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also includes
12 excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium,
13 agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
14 § 2. Section 677 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
15 sion 2-a to read as follows:
16 2-a. No report of any autopsy or other examination shall cite excited
17 delirium as a cause or means or manner of death. For the purposes of
18 this subdivision, the term "excited delirium" shall mean a term used to
19 describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme
20 aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not
21 listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical
22 Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insuf-
23 ficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a
24 medical condition. Excited delirium also includes excited delirium
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13987-04-4
A. 9414--A 2
1 syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and
2 exhaustive mania.
3 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 837-y to
4 read as follows:
5 § 837-y. Prohibition of use of excited delirium. 1. No report by a law
6 enforcement officer or peace officer shall reference excited delirium in
7 such report.
8 2. No law enforcement officer or peace officer shall take any action
9 with respect to an individual in response to such individual being diag-
10 nosed or labeled as having or being in a state of excited delirium. No
11 training shall be provided that requires, encourages, or permits any
12 action in response to an individual being diagnosed or labeled as having
13 or being in a state of excited delirium.
14 3. For the purposes of this section, "excited delirium" shall mean a
15 term used to describe a person's state of agitation, excitability, para-
16 noia, extreme aggression, physical violence, and apparent immunity to
17 pain that is not listed in the most current version of the Diagnostic
18 and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or for which the court finds
19 there is insufficient scientific evidence or diagnostic criteria to be
20 recognized as a medical condition. Excited delirium also includes
21 excited delirium syndrome, excited delirium, hyperactive delirium,
22 agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
23 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 139-m to
24 read as follows:
25 § 139-m. Prohibition of use of excited delirium. 1. As used in this
26 section:
27 (a) "Contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation,
28 association, company, organization or other similar entity, or any
29 combination thereof, including any subcontractor thereof, that employs
30 employees to perform work pursuant to an agreement with a public agency.
31 (b) "Public agency" means the state, and any department, agency,
32 board, bureau, commission, division, council or office of the state or
33 any political subdivision thereof, as defined in section one hundred of
34 the general municipal law, a municipal corporation as defined in section
35 sixty-six of the general construction law and any district thereof, a
36 public benefit corporation, or local or state authority as defined in
37 section two of the public authorities law, and any other entity author-
38 ized and empowered to enter into any contract or arrangement to conduct
39 economic development activity on behalf of any such public agency.
40 (c) "Excited delirium" means a term used to describe a person's state
41 of agitation, excitability, paranoia, extreme aggression, physical
42 violence, and apparent immunity to pain that is not listed in the most
43 current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
44 Disorders, or for which the court finds there is insufficient scientific
45 evidence or diagnostic criteria to be recognized as a medical condition.
46 Excited delirium also includes excited delirium syndrome, excited deli-
47 rium, hyperactive delirium, agitated delirium, and exhaustive mania.
48 2. No employee of a public agency or contractor or employee of a
49 contractor shall issue a diagnosis of excited delirium, report excited
50 delirium as a cause of death or a contributing factor to a death, or
51 conduct any trainings or share materials attesting to the validity of
52 excited delirium as a cause of death.
53 3. No public agency or contractor shall adopt or maintain any policy
54 or procedure, including but not limited to police manuals and trainings,
55 that acknowledges the validity of the diagnosis, cause of death, or
56 label of excited delirium.
A. 9414--A 3
1 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
