Bill Text: NY A03481 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Establishes a New York state prison labor board to create, monitor and enforce an equitable and rehabilitative system of prison labor; abolishes penal servitude by prohibiting the forced labor of incarcerated individuals; provides fair wages and treatment of incarcerated individuals; prohibits the use of the labor of incarcerated individuals for earnings which inure to the benefit of the state of New York, the government of the United States, any state of the United States, any public corporation, or any private shareholder or individual.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-25 - print number 3481b [A03481 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A03481-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3481--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 27, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Correction  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to inmate labor

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 170  of  the  correction  law,  as
     2  added  by  chapter  256  of  the  laws of 2010, is amended and three new
     3  subdivisions 4, 5 and 6 are added to read as follows:
     4    3. Notwithstanding any other  provision  of  law,  an  inmate  may  be
     5  permitted  to  leave  the institution under guard to voluntarily perform
     6  work for a nonprofit organization. As used in  this  section,  the  term
     7  "nonprofit  organization" means an organization operated exclusively for
     8  religious, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the net earn-
     9  ings of which inures to the benefit  of  the  state  of  New  York,  the
    10  government of the United States or to any state of the United States, or
    11  political  subdivision  thereof,  any public corporation or eleemosynary
    12  association or corporation funded in whole or in part  by  any  federal,
    13  state or local funds or any private shareholder or individual.
    14    4.  (a)  No  inmate shall be compelled to provide labor against his or
    15  her will by actual force,  threats  of  force,  threats  of  punishment,
    16  threats  of legal coercion or by any scheme, plan or pattern intended to
    17  cause the inmate to believe that, if the inmate  did  not  provide  such
    18  labor, that inmate or another person would suffer physical, emotional or
    19  mental harm.
    20    (b)  For  the  purposes  of  this  subdivision, the failure to pay, or
    21  underpayment of, all wages due for work performed shall also  constitute
    22  force.
    23    5. Any inmate alleging a violation of subdivision four of this section
    24  against any state or local correctional facility in the state shall have

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02712-03-1
        A. 3481--A                          2

     1  a  cause  of action in the court of appropriate jurisdiction for damages
     2  and injunctive relief and such other remedies as may be appropriate.
     3    6.  (a)  Any  inmate  alleging a violation of subdivision four of this
     4  section against any officer or employee of any state  or  local  correc-
     5  tional  facility  in  the  state  shall  within ten years after the acts
     6  alleged to have violated this subdivision have a  cause  of  action  for
     7  damages,  including punitive damages, and for injunctive relief and such
     8  other remedies as may be appropriate together with all reasonable attor-
     9  ney's fees and costs.
    10    (b) The immunity granted pursuant to subdivision one of section  twen-
    11  ty-four  of this chapter shall not extend to actions brought pursuant to
    12  subdivision four of this section, and any action commenced under  subdi-
    13  vision  four  may  be  brought  in  any court of competent jurisdiction,
    14  including the supreme court.
    15    (c) A violation of any of the foregoing  provisions  shall  constitute
    16  sufficient  cause  for  the removal of such employee by the duly consti-
    17  tuted authority having jurisdiction.
    18    § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 171 of the correction law, as amended by
    19  section 24 of subpart A of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011,  is
    20  amended to read as follows:
    21    1.  [The  commissioner  and  the  superintendents and officials of all
    22  penitentiaries in the state may cause inmates in the state  correctional
    23  facilities and such penitentiaries who are physically capable thereof to
    24  be employed for not to exceed eight hours of each day other than Sundays
    25  and  public  holidays.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  this
    26  section, however, the commissioner and superintendents of state  correc-
    27  tional facilities may employ inmates on a volunteer basis on Sundays and
    28  public  holidays in specialized areas of the facility, including kitchen
    29  areas,  vehicular  garages,  rubbish  pickup  and  grounds  maintenance,
    30  providing,  however, that inmates so employed shall be allowed an alter-
    31  native free day within the normal work week.] All  persons  incarcerated
    32  in  any  state  or  local correctional facility in the state who request
    33  employment shall be afforded an equal opportunity to  be  employed,  and
    34  the  commissioner, the superintendents and officials of all penitentiar-
    35  ies must make all efforts to ensure that job assignments are distributed
    36  equitably such that, to the extent practicable, work is provided to  all
    37  who request employment.
    38    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    39  have become a law.