BILL NUMBER: S4890
SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law and the correction law, in relation to
establishing the crime of harassment of an employee by an incarcerated
individual
 
PURPOSE:
Establishes the crime of harassment of an employee by an incarcerated
individual.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the penal law by adding a new section 240.33 creating
the crime of Harassment of an employee by an incarcerated individual.
Under the new section, an incarcerated individual or respondent is guil-
ty of harassment of an employee by an incarcerated individual when, with
intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm a person in a facility whom
such incarcerated individual knows or reasonably should know to be an
employee of such facility or the board of parole or the office of mental
health, or a probation department, bureau or unit or a police officer,
such incarcerated individual, for the purpose of degrading or abusing an
employee, or for the purpose of gratifying such incarcerated individ-
ual's sexual desire:
1. Displays or touches their intimate parts while in clear view of an
employee; or
2. Intentionally engaged in conduct that such incarcerated individual
knows would cause an employee to be in clear view of such incarcerated
individual while such incarcerated individual displays or touches their
intimate parts; or
3. Communicates to an employee such incarcerated person will, at some
time in the future, cause such employee to meet such incarcerated
person's blood, urine, seminal fluid, or feces.
Definitions are also provided for the purposes of this section. Harass-
ment of an employee by an incarcerated individual is a class B misdemea-
nor.
Section 2: Amends subdivision 2 of section 851 of the correction law to
include Harassment of an employee by an incarcerated individual.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Correction Officers face a multitude of daily stressors within the
course of their duties and must be always vigilant for potential threats
of harassment and assaults. They should not have to be concerned that at
any moment they could become a victim of sexual assault, and the perpe-
trator would not face any legal consequences. The fear instilled in
officers from the amount of sexual harassment and sexual based threats
made to them daily is a distraction from their duties and puts them at
further risk. Often, these threats range from summoning a correction
officer for the sole purpose of forcing the Correction Officer to watch
the incarcerated individual sexually gratifying themselves, to threaten-
ing the Correction Officer with a future act that would cause the
Correction Officer to come into contact with the incarcerated individ-
ual's blood, urine, seminal fluid, or feces.
A deterrent for this behavior improves the safety of officers as well as
the incarcerated individuals that they protect. Correction Officers
uphold an oath to serve their community and do not come to work to
become victims themselves. These incidents of sexual harassment and
threatened sexual violence cause trauma within the officers that tran-
scends into their home lives with their spouses and children.
Because there are no potential adverse consequences associated with
incarcerated individuals who engage in such behavior, incarcerated indi-
viduals will continue to engage in this behavior.
If we can reduce some of the stress and hostility for our Correction
Officers, we should act. This bill will accomplish that objective.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.8433; Held in Senate Codes Committee
 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE PATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall. Have
become a law; the amendments to subdivision 2 of section 851 of the
correction law made by section two of this act shall not affect the
expiration of such subdivision or section and shall expire and be deemed
repealed therewith.

Statutes affected:
S4890: 851 correction law, 851(2) correction law