S 7216: Relates to segregated confinement; prohibits segregated confinement for certain persons.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7216 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE April 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- 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 segregated confine- ment The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 6 of section 137 of 2 the correction law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is 3 amended and two new paragraphs (p) and (q) are added to read as follows: 4 Except as provided in paragraphs (d) [and], (e), (p) and (q) of this 5 subdivision, as a measure of last resort, the superintendent of a 6 correctional facility, under supervision of the commissioner, or the 7 sheriff of a local correctional facility may keep any incarcerated indi- 8 vidual confined in a cell or room, apart from the accommodations 9 provided for incarcerated individuals who are participating in programs 10 of the facility, for such minimal period as may be necessary for mainte- 11 nance of order or discipline, but in any such case the following condi- 12 tions shall be observed: 13 (p) Segregated confinement is prohibited for the following incarcerat- 14 ed individuals: 15 (i) juveniles under the age of twenty-one; 16 (ii) any person with a mental illness or a developmental disability as 17 defined in section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law; and 18 (iii) any person who has a permanent physical disability documented in 19 their medical records that substantially limits one or more major life 20 activities. For the purposes of this subdivision, "major life activ- 21 ities" means functions such as walking, seeing, hearing and speaking. 22 (q) The commissioner shall compile and publish comprehensive disaggre- 23 gated data on the use of segregated confinement, including related 24 suicide attempts and self-harm, on a quarterly basis. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11449-01-5 
 S. 7216 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 138 of the correction law, as amended by 2 chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 3 3. Facility rules shall be specific and precise giving all incarcerat- 4 ed individuals actual notice of the conduct prohibited. Facility rules 5 shall state the range of disciplinary sanctions which can be imposed for 6 violation of each rule but any sanction of segregated confinement shall 7 be for the minimum period necessary for the maintenance of order or 8 discipline. 9 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 10 it shall have become a law.