BILL NUMBER: S5804
SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to medical parole
 
PURPOSE:
To clarify the medical parole review process.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 makes a technical amendment to paragraph (a) of subdivision 1
of 259-r of the executive law requiring the consideration of danger
presented to society.
Section 2 amends paragraph (a) of section 259-r of the executive law to
clarify when medical parole can be granted.
Section 3 makes an amendment to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of
259-r of the executive law to clarify that the commissioner of the
department of corrections or his designee who reviews medical parole
applications is expected and required to make a medical determination in
certifying an application for review by the board of parole for release
consideration.
Sections 4 amends subdivision four of section 259-r of the executive law
to clarify the role of the board of parole in making a determination as
to the danger presented to public, safety by the medical parole appli-
cant who has received from the commissioner certification of medical
eligibility.
Section 5 makes the same technical amendment to section 259-s of the
executive law as section 1 of this bill makes to section 259-r.
Section 6 makes the same amendment to paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of
259-s of the executive law as section 2 of this bill makes to section
259-r.
Section 7 makes the same amendment to subdivision 4 of section 259-s of
the executive law as section 3 of this bill makes to section 259-r.
Section 8 provides for the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Sixteen people died between 2005 and 2009 while waiting for their
medical parole board interviews, an indication that the medical parole
process is taking too long.
In 2009 medical parole was expanded beyond section 259-r for terminally
ill inmates to create section 259-s for inmates with non-terminal
illnesses and conditions that render them so physically debilitated or
cognitively impaired that they do not present a danger to society. In
spite of the legislative intent to expand medical parole, no one was
released to medical parole in 2009 or 2010, the last year for which
records are available. The near lack of use of these statutes can be
attributed to the implementation process as well as the statutory
language itself, both of which this bill attempts to rectify.
We have spent millions of dollars to build regional medical units, a
unit for the cognitively impaired, units for the terminally ill, units
for persons on dialysis, units for the wheelchair bound, hospice units
and other such units providing more than 500 beds for inmates whom we
know are seriously ill, terminally ill or physically unable to care for
themselves and yet most inmates who apply for medical parole are not
being certified by the Department of Corrections as incapacitated enough
to create a reasonable probability that they are safe to release.
The population of 2,000 inmates over age 60 is projected to quadruple to
more than 6,000 inmates in the next ten years. We currently spend $12
million a year on prescription medication for inmates, as well as
millions of dollars more on medical procedures and treatment for a vari-
ety of infirmities such as cancer, liver failure, kidney failure and
other ailments, all costs for which also quadrupled in the next decade.
Of the few inmates who were certified by the Department to proceed to
the parole board process, some died before their interview because the
procedures created to implement the statute take too long while over 130
inmates die every year inside prisons, many from old age and infirmity.
This bill attempts to address some of the deficiencies in the medical
parole certification and parole board hearing processes so that inmates
who are dying or severely restricted in their ability to self-ambulate
or perform significant normal activities due to the debilitative nature
of their medical conditions can be released to die at home or be cared
for by their families or in outside medical facilities.
Section 1 and 2 amend 259-r and 259-s, respectively, by changing the
word "any" to "a" in regard to the danger presented to society were such
inmate to be released. The Department of Correction and the Parole Board
release 26,000 inmates every year, regardless of their physical capacity
to reoffend; physically debilitated and terminally ill inmates should
not be held to a higher standard than healthy inmates under the medical
parole statute. The intention of the change in the language provided by
this bill is to instruct the board of parole to consider whether an
inmate's medical condition makes it unlikely that he or she will pose a
danger to society, not that it's a physical impossibility. It is note-
worthy that the Executive's memorandum in support of 259-s in 2009, and
in much of the 259-r statute itself "a danger" is used rather than "any
danger".
Sections 3 and 4 amend 259-r and 259-s, respectively, by requiring the
commissioner or designee of the department of corrections and community
supervision to make a medical determination as to whether or not an
inmate meets the medical requirements under the statute. Currently, the
statute requires the commissioner to make a safety determination dupli-
cative of the function of the parole board, but without the personal
interview and other due process requirements pursuant to 259-i. The
determination as to whether or not an inmate presents a danger to socie-
ty is clearly the function of the parole board, not the commissioner,
and should be provided due process protections inherent in the parole
process. This bill makes clear that the medical determination made by
the Department should not usurp the function of the parole board.
Sections 4 and 5 amends 259-r and 259-s, respectively, to clarify that
the board of parole, upon receipt of medical certification from the
department shall make a judgment as to whether or not such inmate
presents a danger to society. Finally, the bill provides that the board
shall make its determination within thirty days of receiving such
certification from the commissioner with the intended result being that
fewer inmates will die while waiting for the parole board to interview
them.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.6283 of 2023-2024: Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;
S. 2907 of 2021-22: Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;
S. 2688 of 2019-20: Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;
2012-2020: Assembly Bill Advanced to Third Reading annually.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Projected to cost $150K per year to retain a significantly ill, debili-
tated or terminal inmate, any additional releases may incur a savings.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

Statutes affected:
S5804: 259-r executive law, 259-r(1) executive law, 259-r(2) executive law, 259-s executive law, 259-s(1) executive law, 259-s(2) executive law, 259-s(4) executive law