Bill Text: NY A03142 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to prohibiting involuntary employment of prisoners; provides that no prisoner shall be compelled to provide labor against his or her will by actual force, threats of force, threats of punishment, threats of legal coercion or by any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if such person did not provide such labor that such person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-18 - opinion referred to judiciary [A03142 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A03142-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          3142

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 22, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Correction

                    CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY

        proposing an amendment to section 24 of article 3 of  the  constitution,
          in relation to prohibiting involuntary employment of prisoners

     1    Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 24 of article
     2  3 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
     3    §  24.  [The legislature shall, by law, provide for the occupation and
     4  employment of prisoners sentenced to the several state prisons, peniten-
     5  tiaries, jails and reformatories in the state; and no] No person in  any
     6  [such]  state  prison,  penitentiary,  jail  or  reformatory,  shall  be
     7  required or allowed to work, while under sentence thereto, at any trade,
     8  industry or occupation, wherein or whereby his or her work, or the prod-
     9  uct or profit of his or her work, shall be farmed out, contracted, given
    10  or sold to any person, firm, association or corporation,  provided  that
    11  the  legislature  may provide by law that such prisoners may voluntarily
    12  perform work for nonprofit organizations provided that no  person  shall
    13  be  compelled  to provide labor against his or her will by actual force,
    14  threats of force, threats of punishment, threats of legal coercion or by
    15  any scheme, plan or pattern intended to  cause  the  person  to  believe
    16  that,  if  such  person  did  not provide such labor that such person or
    17  another person would suffer physical, emotional or mental harm or  phys-
    18  ical  restraint.  As used in this section, the term "nonprofit organiza-
    19  tion" means an organization operated exclusively for religious, charita-
    20  ble, or educational purposes, no part  of  the  net  earnings  of  which
    21  inures  to  the  benefit of any private shareholder or individual. [This
    22  section shall not be construed to prevent the legislature from providing
    23  that convicts may work for, and that the products of their labor may  be
    24  disposed  of  to, the state or any political division thereof, or for or
    25  to any public institution owned or managed and controlled by the  state,
    26  or any political division thereof.]

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD89015-01-1
        A. 3142                             2

     1    §  2.  Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing be referred
     2  to the first  regular  legislative  session  convening  after  the  next
     3  succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in conform-
     4  ity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be published for 3
     5  months previous to the time of such election.