---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relates to prohibiting the requirement of inmates to waive religious rights"
description: "Prohibits the commissioner of corrections and community supervision from promulgating policy to require inmates to waive religious rights in order to participate in inmate programs."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ny"
legislature: "New York Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "A 9702"
citation: "New York A 9702 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["WEPRIN"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-02-06"
last_action: "2020-10-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/844e7687-b946-47cc-9e5e-dc184b6e444f"
source_url: "http://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/A9702"
source_hash: "1973a76eceeb8afe71b2d6fddbb302c8394011ce500f4d263c9bdfe499cb51bc"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ny"]
---

# New York A 9702 (2019-2020) — Relates to prohibiting the requirement of inmates to waive religious rights

Prohibits the commissioner of corrections and community supervision from promulgating policy to require inmates to waive religious rights in order to participate in inmate programs.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **A9702** (committee substitute) — [source](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=printbill&bn=A9702&term=2019&Text=Y)

## Votes

- Floor Vote — **45–15** (pass) · upper
- Assembly Vote — **142–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- WEPRIN — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-02-06** REFERRED TO CORRECTION `referral-committee`
- **2020-07-14** REPORTED REFERRED TO RULES `referral-committee`
- **2020-07-21** REPORTED
- **2020-07-21** RULES REPORT CAL.253
- **2020-07-21** ORDERED TO THIRD READING RULES CAL.253
- **2020-07-22** PASSED ASSEMBLY `passage`
- **2020-07-22** DELIVERED TO SENATE
- **2020-07-22** REFERRED TO RULES `referral-committee`
- **2020-07-23** SUBSTITUTED FOR S8740
- **2020-07-23** 3RD READING CAL.954
- **2020-07-23** PASSED SENATE `passage`
- **2020-07-23** RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
- **2020-09-25** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR `executive-receipt`
- **2020-10-07** SIGNED CHAP.211 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/844e7687-b946-47cc-9e5e-dc184b6e444f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New York legislature records).