Bill Text: NY A11378 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Imposes criminal liability for the failure to obtain medical care for a person in custody displaying medical distress.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-12-05 - print number 11378a [A11378 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A11378-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          11378
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    October 19, 2018
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Fernandez)
          -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
        AN ACT to amend the correction law and the penal  law,  in  relation  to
          imposing criminal liability for the failure to obtain medical care for
          a person in custody displaying medical distress
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the "Andrew Kearse act".
     3    §  2.  Paragraph  (e) of subdivision 1 of section 47 of the correction
     4  law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (iii) to read as follows:
     5    (iii) The board shall require all correctional facilities  to  provide
     6  immediate  medical  attention  when an inmate displays medical distress.
     7  The board shall investigate all alleged  failures  of  any  correctional
     8  facility  to  provide  medical  care  to  an  inmate  displaying medical
     9  distress or a need for immediate medical care. If  the  board  discovers
    10  any police officer, peace officer, correction officer, or other employee
    11  of  a  correctional facility failed to make reasonable effort to provide
    12  medical care to an inmate displaying medical  distress  or  a  need  for
    13  immediate  medical  care, the board shall refer such case to prosecutors
    14  as a violation of section 195.01 of the penal law.
    15    § 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 195.01  to  read
    16  as follows:
    17  § 195.01 Criminally negligent failure to obtain medical care.
    18    A  person  is guilty of criminally negligent failure to obtain medical
    19  care when such person, acting as a  police  officer,  peace  officer  or
    20  correction  officer:  (a)  with  criminal  negligence,  fails  to obtain
    21  medical care for any person in custody, including an inmate,  displaying
    22  medical distress or a need for immediate medical care in the presence of
    23  such  officer;  and (b) such person in custody suffers from an injury or
    24  death resulting from such failure to obtain medical care.
    25    Criminally negligent failure to obtain  medical  care  is  a  class  A
    26  misdemeanor.
    27    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16582-01-8