Establishes the Terry Cooper autopsy accountability act

• Democratic8

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Julia Salazar says this is needed

On May 19, 2016, Terry Cooper, who had just turned 25 years old, was brutally assaulted by NYS DOCCS Correction Officers at Clinton Correc- tional Facility and died that day because of the assault. Mr. Cooper weighed approximately 115 pounds and was approximately 5'5" tall, was the father of a young child and was known to suffer from severe asthma. The assault included the use of batons to beat Mr. Cooper. Mr. Cooper died as result of this beating. During the beating, Mr. Cooper said that he could not breathe and he needed his asthma pump and was taken to the infirmary where he was unable to be revived. His official cause of death was determined to be "cardio-respiratory arrest consistent with acute exacerbation of chronic asthma." The autopsy report provided to the State Commission of Corrections Correction Medical Review Board did not include photographs that had been taken of Mr. Cooper after he passed away, which clearly demon- strated he had been beaten by batons. This omission, which was in accord with existing law, made it impossible for the SCOC Correction Medical Review Board to properly fulfill its oversight mission and responsibil- ity to evaluate the cause of death of anyone who dies in custody in NYS and to make recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such deaths. These photographs were discovered during the course of the lawsuit commenced by Mr. Cooper's family. (Cooper v. Clancy, Wood, and Duffina, 19-cv-00362, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.) When this case went to trial 7 and 1/2 years later (November 2023), the jury in the U.S. District Court in Albany found that two COs had engaged in unconstitutional excessive force and that those two plus a third had unconstitutionally failed to intervene to protect Mr. Cooper's rights. The jury awarded a total of $9.25 million to Mr. Cooper's family because of these constitutional violations that resulted in his death. The jury also decided two of the COs would have to pay punitive damages. It is likely that the evidence showing he was beaten with batons played a key role in the jury's verdict. The Cooper family and NYS later reached a consent judgement, approved by the Court, by which New York State would pay a total of $8.9 million in full satisfaction of the jury verdict., Had the SCOC Correction Medical Review Board received the autopsy photo- graphs, they might have been able to make timely and lifesaving recom- mendations related to limiting the use of batons by DOCCS Correction Officers. In addition, the individual COs involved might have been subjected to employee discipline or, possibly, criminal charges, had this information been made known in a timely manner. This bill ensures that the proper documentation, including photographs, is included in autopsy reports provided to DOCCS and the SCOC Correction Medical Review Board to both monitor and reflect on how deaths can be prevented, to hold Correction. Officers accountable when the autopsy reports indicate excessive force, and to prevent further similar trage- dies. This bill is named in honor of Terry Cooper in recognition of his trag- ic, unnecessary, untimely, and unconstitutional death in 2016 in a NYS facility at the hands of NYS Correction Officers. The intention is to correct a gap in the law, to bring light to this tragedy, and to draw attention to the lack of proper accountability regarding the improper use of force by COs in this case. The hope is that this will help to make sure such tragic events do not recur, that the SCOC has the infor- mation it needs to fulfill its function, and that DOCCS staff who engage in unconstitutional brutality are timely held accountable. In addition, the State is paying $8.9 million due to an incident that should not have happened. The hope is that this bill will ultimately save the State money. As further justification for this bill, the existing lack of account- ability within DOCCS has continued to have tragic, and avoidable, conse- que

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.