BILL NUMBER: S1079
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring intervention
in incidents involving incarcerated individuals
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires affirmative intervention by police officers, peace officers and
employees of correctional facilities when they witness incidents of
violence.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends the Executive Law to require affirmative intervention by police
officers, peace officers and employees of correctional facilities when
they witness incidents of violence.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The recent murder of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility
represents an incredible yet entirely preventable tragedy. Black people
have been indiscriminately killed in this country for over 400 years and
black men who are incarcerated, even in the year 2024, are routinely
denied basic human rights and often suffer abuse that is entirely
preventable. Only because of the presence of fixed, static cameras were
we able to learn that Robert Books was beaten to death while upward of a
dozen people watched and did nothing, despite their position as State
Employees almost if not all sworn to uphold high standards of law,
peace, welfare and health. As part of a multifaceted response to this
heartbreaking murder, we must hold those who wish to enter professions
to protect and serve all people to a higher standard and require their
intervention as peacemakers, not as modern day lynching onlookers.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill, 2025.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.