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A09414 Summary:

BILL NOA09414A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S09039-A
 
SPONSORGonzalez-Rojas
 
COSPNSRLunsford, Clark, Meeks, Epstein, Simon, Taylor, Davila, Reyes, Rosenthal L, Lucas, Bores, Gallagher, Burdick, Shimsky, Mamdani
 
MLTSPNSR
 
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.
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A09414 Actions:

BILL NOA09414A
 
03/14/2024referred to health
05/17/2024amend (t) and recommit to health
05/17/2024print number 9414a
05/21/2024reported referred to rules
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A09414 Memo:

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.
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A09414 Text:



 
                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.
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