Provides that no state or local correctional facility shall deny entry to a visitor to such facility due to the fact that such person is menstruating…

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Julia Salazar says this is needed

New York State provided 11 million dollars in funding for body scanners in New York State Correctional Facilities since 2022. Currently, body scanners are being regularly used, and DOCCS' visitation policy dictates that each facility has the authority to deny visitation to individuals, however, DOCCS has not produced a written directive or policy specific to the operation of the body scanners and the processing of those results (1). During a public hearing held by the legislature in May 2025, the commissioner of DOCCS testified that approximately 80-90% of visitors utilizing the body scanners, and approximately 80-90% of staff refuse to go through the body scanners (2). Since the implementation of body scanners in NYS correctional facili- ties, there have been countless reports of false allegations by DOCCS staff against visiting individuals of having contraband appear on their scans, leading to their visitation being denied with no ability for the visitor to prove their innocence in that moment. This is a significant bather for visitors who are traveling long distances, visitors who must take time off from work, travel with children or elderly loved ones, and those who must spend money to travel. DOCCS' ability to seemingly arbi- trarily deny visitors causes immense stress and uncertainty to families and loved ones. Recently, there have been multiple reports of menstruating individuals being denied visitation because their body scans showed menstrual products in their imaging. For example, an individual recently travelled 5 hours by bus to visit her loved one and was told she could not visit because of the tampon that appeared in her scans. She then travelled 5 hours back home by bus because there is no mechanism in place to argue DOCCS' decision at that moment. Per reports from visitors, DOCCS will sometimes require individuals to remove their tampon to go through the body scanner and then put a new one in. If they refuse, they will then be required to do a non-contact visit. This is not only embarrassing and invasive, but processing visitation takes time, and it is not always an option for menstruating individuals to not wear a menstrual product for an extended period of time. This should not be a barrier for loved ones to have a contact-visit. This bill seeks to protect menstruating individuals, or people wearing menstrual products or internal contraception, from this humiliating and discriminatory practice by prohibiting denying individuals from visiting their loved ones or restricting contact visits in state or local correc- tional facilities because their body scans or alternative screening methods indicate they are wearing menstrual products or have internal contraception, and that state and local correctional facilities cannot require individuals to remove menstrual products in order to enter or be permitted contact visitation. FISCAL HISTORY: New Bill. FISCAL IMPLICATION: None.

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.