New York S 3763: Protects the rights of people in prisons, jails and forensic facilities

Bill Text

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S03763 Summary:

BILL NOS03763 

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SAME ASSAME AS A01261-A

&nbsp

SPONSORSALAZAR

&nbsp

COSPNSRBASKIN, BRISPORT, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, GONZALEZ, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, PARKER, RAMOS, RIVERA,
 SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, WEBB

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Amd §§2 & 137, Cor L

&nbsp

Protects the rights of people in prisons, jails and forensic facilities; limits the use of cell or segregated confinement; grants access to tablets, visitation, and certain items.

Go to top S03763 Actions:

BILL NOS03763 

&nbsp

01/29/2025REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION

01/07/2026REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION

Go to topS03763 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS03763 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS03763 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 3763

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 January 29, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. SALAZAR, BRISPORT, CLEARE, FERNANDEZ, GONZALEZ,
 JACKSON, PARKER, RAMOS, SEPULVEDA, WEBB -- read twice and ordered
 printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime
 Victims, Crime and Correction

 AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to the rights of people
 in prisons, jails, and forensic facilities

 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 "rights behind bars; protecting the rights of people in prisons,
 3 jails, and forensic facilities, and their loved ones, in New York state
 4 act".
 5 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and
 6 declares:
 7 A. Incarcerated individuals, their families, and loved ones have human
 8 rights. The legislature finds that New York's prisons and jails system-
 9 atically fail to recognize and protect the human rights of incarcerated
 10 individuals, their families, and their loved ones. While some of these
 11 rights are protected by the law and constitution of New York State, and
 12 the law and constitution of the United States, it is well-documented
 13 that the rights protected under existing law are often not recognized in
 14 practice and that there are gaps in existing law. The intent of this
 15 act is to: (i) make clear some of the rights that already exist under
 16 New York law but are not being consistently followed, (ii) close some of
 17 the gaps in existing law, and (iii) enshrine into New York State law
 18 some of the well-established principles and obligations under interna-
 19 tional human rights law.
 20 B. Numerous recent studies, reports, documented incidents, and court
 21 decisions have documented systemic, widespread, and persistent human
 22 rights violations in New York's correctional facilities.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD02137-02-5

 S. 3763 2

 1 C. Recent incidents include the brutal beating of Robert Brooks in
 2 December 2024 at Marcy Correctional Facility by multiple officers, and
 3 witnessed by other officers and medical staff, which resulted in Mr.
 4 Brooks' death. This incident was captured on video recordings although
 5 the DOCCS staff involved or present did not appear to realize that at
 6 the time. The video recordings appear to show that the beating of Mr.
 7 Brooks in an examination room in the facility infirmary was not viewed
 8 by the staff as anything out of the ordinary. No one intervened to stop
 9 the fatal beating of Mr. Brooks.
 10 D. Recent reports include: NYS Inspector General Lucy Lang, Racial
 11 Disparities in the Administration of Discipline in New York State Pris-
 12 ons, November 2022; Neff, Santo, and Meagher, How A 'Blue Wall' Inside
 13 New York State Prisons Protects Abusive Guards, The Marshall Project in
 14 partnership with the New York Times, May 2023; Neff, Santo, and Meagher,
 15 In New York Prisons Guards Who Brutalize Prisoners Rarely Get Fired, The
 16 Marshall Project in partnership with the New York Times, May 2023; Law,
 17 V., The Worst Prison in New York State, Prison Legal News, March 2022;
 18 Gelardi and Brown, State Prisons Are Routinely Violating New York's
 19 Landmark Solitary Confinement Law, Ne