HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2887        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2173

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Colleen M. Garry

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act authorizing criteria for the compassionate release of terminally ill inmates in Massachusetts Correctional Institutations.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2887        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2173

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act authorizing criteria for the compassionate release of terminally ill inmates in Massachusetts Correctional Institutations.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1: Chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 117A, the following new section:

117B. Terminally Ill Inmates.

(a)Whenever the physician or director of medical care at a state correctional facility certifies that any inmate held therein is determined to be terminally ill and expected to die while in custody, or whenever the physician or director of medical care at a  jail or house of correction certifies that any inmate held therein is determined to terminally ill, the Commissioner of the Department of Correction or a Sheriff may petition the Court of jurisdiction which issued the inmate’s original and or subsequent term(s) of incarceration for an Order permitting the Compassionate Release of the inmate.

(b)Compassionate Release shall mean release to a community confinement monitoring program in which the terminally ill inmate continues to receive medically appropriate care outside the correctional facility, jail or house of correction that is medically appropriate. Except as set out in this section, the inmate shall live in a hospital or other appropriate care facility, such as a nursing facility, residential care facility or facility that is a licensed hospice program pursuant to section 57d, chapter 111, MGL.   As approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Correction or a Sheriff, the inmate may receive hospice services from an entity licensed pursuant to said section 57d, chapter 111 MGL and may live at home while receiving these services.

(c)The Commissioner of the Department of Correction, or a Sheriff, shall receive regular reports on the condition and status of the otherwise terminally ill inmate from the inmate’s direct-care provider(s). If the Commissioner or a Sheriff determines that the inmate has failed to fully comply with a request, or if at any time the physician or director of medical services at a state correctional facility or a jail or house of correction subsequently determines that the inmate does not have a terminal medical condition, or that care outside the jail is not medically appropriate, the Commissioner or a Sheriff shall terminate the inmate's participation in the community confinement monitoring program and order the return of the inmate to the releasing facility

(d)Effective date: This section shall take effect on July 01, 2011