Increases from twenty-four to sixty months, the time for which reconsideration for parole shall be determined

Title of bill

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the time in which reconsideration for parole shall be determined

Purpose

This bill would extend the number of months from twenty-four to sixty as the time within which the parole board must set for reconsideration of a denied application for parole.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of this bill amends Section 259-i(2)(a)(i) of the executive law by providing that should parole be denied, the board shall specify a date not more than sixty months from such determination for reconsideration. This section of law is subject to expiration and reversion pursuant to §74(d) of Chapter 3 of the Laws of 1995, and the proposed amendment is set to also be subject to such expiration and reversion.

Section 2 of the bill makes similar changes to Section 259-i(2)(a) of the executive law which are scheduled to take effect when the provisions above expire.

Justification

Currently when parole is denied, the board has the discretion to set the date for reconsideration for parole for any date within two years of the denial of parole. In many cases, especially those involving heinous acts of violence against another, parole will be denied numerous times. However, each time an inmate is considered for parole, the victim and his/her family is required to relive the horror of the crime for the sake of impressing upon the Parole Board the inappropriateness of early release. In these cases, when the board is confident that their opinion regarding parole release will not be changed by anything that can transpire within the next five years, the board should have the discretion to set the date for reconsideration of its denial of parole for any date within those five years. This would still allow for an earlier reconsideration if warranted, yet also give the victim and his/her family a greater period of time of peace before the next parole consideration.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

This bill could result in some savings to the State by not requiring parole considerations that are unnecessary.

Effective date

The first section of the bill would become effective immediately while the second section of this bill would become effective when the provisions of §74 (d) of Chapter 3 of the Laws of 1995 take effect.