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AFTER FINDING THE ISSUE PRESENTED AN EXCEPTION TO THE MOOTNESS DOCTRINE, THE COURT DETERMINED THE STATE DID NOT ADEQUATELY ASSIST A SEX OFFENDER IS FINDING SUITABLE HOUSING UPON RELEASE.

The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Garry, determined the Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) did not give the petitioner, an indigent sex offender who had completed his sentence, adequate assistance in finding housing in a residential treatment facility (RTF) upon release. Although petitioner had been provided RTF housing by the time the matter was heard, the Third Department reached the issue as an exception to the mootness doctrine. DOCCS’s insufficient assistance in finding RTF housing for released sex offenders was deemed a recurring problem that needed to be addressed:

We agree with petitioner that, due to the “recognized difficulty in securing acceptable housing” for persons subject to sex offender residency restrictions, there is a likelihood of repetition regarding individuals being placed in RTFs due to the failure to secure suitable housing … . Given the transitory purpose of RTFs and considering the lack of appellate precedent regarding challenges to RTF placements and programing, we further recognize that the phenomenon typically evades review … . Finally, we find the issues novel and substantial given that petitioner’s challenges concern whether RTFs are serving their distinct purpose, as contrasted with confinement facilities generally … . * * *

The feasibility and appropriateness of the specific means by which DOCCS may choose to provide affirmative assistance in locating housing to petitioner are, of course, discretionary and beyond the reach of judicial review unless they are shown to be irrational, arbitrary and capricious. Accordingly, we may not specify the particular actions that DOCCS should have taken. Nevertheless, its passive approach of leaving the primary obligation to locate housing to an individual confined in a medium security prison facility 100 miles from his family and community, without access to information or communication resources beyond that afforded to other prison inmates, falls far short of the spirit and purpose of the legislative obligation imposed upon DOCCS to assist in this process. Matter of Gonzalez v Annucci, 2017 NY Slip Op 02099, 3rd Dept 3-23-17

CRIMINAL LAW (AFTER FINDING THE ISSUE PRESENTED AN EXCEPTION TO THE MOOTNESS DOCTRINE, THE COURT DETERMINED THE STATE DID NOT ADEQUATELY ASSIST A SEX OFFENDER IS FINDING SUITABLE HOUSING UPON RELEASE)/SEX OFFENDERS (AFTER FINDING THE ISSUE PRESENTED AN EXCEPTION TO THE MOOTNESS DOCTRINE, THE COURT DETERMINED THE STATE DID NOT ADEQUATELY ASSIST A SEX OFFENDER IS FINDING SUITABLE HOUSING UPON RELEASE)/RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITY (SEX OFFENDERS, AFTER FINDING THE ISSUE PRESENTED AN EXCEPTION TO THE MOOTNESS DOCTRINE, THE COURT DETERMINED THE STATE DID NOT ADEQUATELY ASSIST A SEX OFFENDER IS FINDING SUITABLE HOUSING UPON RELEASE)/APPEALS (AFTER FINDING THE ISSUE PRESENTED AN EXCEPTION TO THE MOOTNESS DOCTRINE, THE COURT DETERMINED THE STATE DID NOT ADEQUATELY ASSIST A SEX OFFENDER IS FINDING SUITABLE HOUSING UPON RELEASE)

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