Latest news with #HALT
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Several former NYS correction officers sue state, DOCCS claiming wrongful termination
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Several former New York State correction officers are suing the state and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to get their jobs back. DOCCS started firing employees in March after the multi-week strike took place at facilities statewide, with correction officers asking for safer working conditions, limits to overtime, and a reversal of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act. DOCCS says strike is over, more than 2K fired According to a complaint filed on Friday, over a dozen former correction officers are suing the state, claiming they were wrongfully terminated while they were off the job under the Family Medical Leave Act. The suit calls for monetary damages and the reinstatement of employment and health benefits. DOCCS said it does not comment on pending litigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How Prison Guards Used An Illegal Strike To Fight Reform
A three-weeklong wildcat strike by thousands of New York state correctional officers across more than 40 prisons ended earlier this month, during which time 12 incarcerated people died, and many more struggled from weeks of being deprived of adequate food, medical care, time out of their cell, and access to their lawyers and loved ones. Striking prison guards cited staffing shortages, mandatory overtime and dangerous working conditions as their reasons for walking off the job. But the strike was also the result of a years-long effort by correctional officers to overturn a state law limiting the use of solitary confinement in New York state prisons and jails. Passed in 2021 and implemented the following year, the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act (HALT), capped the number of consecutive days a person could be kept in solitary confinement to 15 days— after which point the United Nations considers it a form of torture. HALT also banned solitary for people with disabilities. The bill was passed in recognition of overwhelming evidence of the harmful physical and mental health effects of solitary confinement. But shortly after it passed, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), the union that represents prison guards, sued state officials in an effort to repeal HALT, claiming the reform bill violated their constitutional rights by putting them at risk of injury or death. 'The harm to life and limb of Correction Officers and Correction Sergeants that has been and will continue to occur constitutes irreparable harm and shocks the contemporary conscience,' they alleged in a complaint. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2022 as 'speculative,' but the correctional officers union vowed to keep fighting to overturn the law. Starting in mid-February, approximately 15,000correctional officers at nearly every New York state prison walked off their jobs. The strike was unsanctioned by the union and violated a state ban on public employees striking. Still, the union succeeded in one of their long-held goals. Earlier this month, the strike ended with state officials agreeing to, among other provisions, suspending parts of HALT for 90 days and agreeing to form a committee to recommend changes to the law. 'The strike was clearly a frontal assault on HALT and its protections,' Antony Gemmell, a supervising attorney for the Prisoners' Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society, told HuffPost. It was unlikely New York state lawmakers would repeal HALT, James Miller, NYSCOPBA's director of public relations said in an interview, 'so at least getting some temporary amendments to limit how it's implemented is a success.' Throughout the strike, lawyers at the Legal Aid Society received hundreds of calls from their clients, describing a 'flood of human desperation,' Kayla Simpson, a staff attorney at Legal Aid's Prisoners' Rights Project said. 'It's hard to imagine as people who haven't been incarcerated what it's like to depend on people for your basic needs — and then to have those people walk away.' 'This is not an acceptable way to meet labor demands. People died, far more have suffered,' Simpson said. 'We wouldn't accept these conditions for animals.' Simpson and her colleagues compiled some of the accounts shared by Legal Aid clients into a report released on Friday, which documents the human cost of the illegal strike. Legal Aid did not disclose the identities of those quoted in the report because of fears of retaliation, and HuffPost could not independently confirm their accounts. Multiple people told Legal Aid that their facilities had shut down 'sick call,' leaving them unable to get medical care. One person incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility told Legal Aid he was unable to get supplies to clean and dress chronic ulcers related to a blood clot in his leg, causing his leg to swell and the wound to produce foul-smelling pus. Another person at Attica, who has epilepsy, reported being ignored after reporting symptoms that typically lead to a seizure. A third person at Attica, who had open-heart surgery in 2020 and has atrial fibrillation, said their weekly medical visits stopped during the strike. 'I haven't gotten the medications I'm supposed to have in two weeks. I have one I can administer to myself, but I'm running out so I'm rationing it and it is not good. I don't know what I'm going to do,' a person incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility said. 'I also am supposed to have physical therapy to help me relearn to walk, but that's deemed 'non-essential' so it's canceled.' An individual at Five Points Correctional Facility told Legal Aid they experienced seizures and COVID symptoms during the strike but still couldn't get medical care. 'They're playing with our lives in here,' the person said. 'The other day I must have been laying there for 20-30 minutes and no one saw me. I woke up in a lot of pain, and no one even realized anything was happening until I yelled out after the fact. When I told a nurse about it, she told me to yell louder next time.' Nicole Whitaker, the deputy director of public information at New York's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said in an email, 'The Department remains focused on keeping everyone inside the correctional facilities safe and secure, as well as providing essential services including but not limited to meals, showers, telephones, commissary and delivery of packages, along with medical and mental health care, including medication.' Allegations of mistreatment have been referred to the Office of Special Investigations, she wrote. 'There were 12 incarcerated individual deaths during the strike, as compared to 13 deaths in the same period last year,' Whitaker wrote. Even after the strike ended earlier this month,incarcerated people told Legal Aid attorneys that they continued to experience neglectful conditions and hostility from returning officers. Several said they feared being injured or even killed by guards, citing the murder of Robert Brooks, who was fatally beaten by correctional officers in December at the prison in Marcy. One person incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility told Legal Aid he overheard a correction officer who had recently returned to work say he wanted to 'kill all the inmates and that we all deserved to die because of our criminal history,' according to the report. 'Whatever the COs are going through, they're taking their anger out on us and bringing it back to us,' another person, who is incarcerated at Coxsackle Correctional Facility, told Legal Aid. 'I understand that most of us made wrong turns in life, but I want to go home. I don't want to get killed in here. I have kids and family to get home to, and a lot of us are starting to feel like our lives are in real danger here.' Asked about these fears, Whitaker wrote, 'While the strike has ended, we are not out of the crisis. Each facility is developing a gradual re-opening plan. In terms of the allegations, those that have been reported by an incarcerated individual claiming mistreatment have been referred to OSI for further investigation.' Although DOCCS tracks assaults by incarcerated people against staff, it does not publicly share statistics about staff assaults against the incarcerated. DOCCS data does show an increase in assaults on staff after HALT went into effect, although the overwhelming majority are described as resulting in 'no injury.' The department considers actions by prisoners like throwing a 'small object' at a staffer to be a form of assault. Last year, the Legal Aid Society, Disability Rights Advocates, and Winston & Strawn LLP filed a class action lawsuit against DOCCS, accusing the department of violating HALT by holding people with disabilities in solitary confinement. DOCCS declined to comment on the pending litigation. 'DOCCS has never complied with HALT from the beginning,' said Gemmell, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the suit. 'A huge part of what HALT intended to do is take people who would otherwise be placed in extended segregated confinement and offer them rehabilitation and therapy. That is not happening.' 'You can't look at HALT and say it's a failure when the reality is DOCCS has never given HALT a real chance to work,' said Gemmell. Prisons Said It Was COVID Isolation. The Incarcerated Describe Torture. Bodycam Video Shows New York Correctional Officers Pummeling Handcuffed Man In Fatal Beating Over 122K People Are Experiencing Solitary Confinement On Any Day: Report
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
HALT Act sponsor defends bill as state Republicans try for second repeal attempt
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The HALT Solitary Confinement Act has become a controversial bill, playing a part in the correctional officer strike that lasted for three weeks in New York State. Snow tapers, milder weather on the way HALT Act sponsor defends bill as state Republicans try for second repeal attempt The Atlantic posts more texts from Signal chat group CNY homeschooled teen takes courses to save lives with Upstate trauma's team Preble's cemetery takes a huge hit and seeks the community's help After working as a correction officer for 27 years, Stephen Woodward retired once the HALT Act was signed. 'They could come out, punch an officer in the face, break their eye socket, get 15 days in a special housing unit or rehabilitation unit, come right out and do it over again,' Woodward said. State Senator Julia Salazar, the bill's sponsor, says otherwise. 'It is not accurate when people claim that there aren't consequences for serious offenses. People can be held in RRU for up to a year,' she said. 'They are still subject to discipline. They are still separated from the general population. They can still have privileges taken away from them.' Salazar says HALT prohibits people with disabilities and mental health issues from solitary confinement and requires out-of-cell time for those in segregated confinement. Over the last four years, she has visited prisons and correctional facilities across the state and says HALT isn't being enacted. 'People with serious mental health conditions are continuing to be placed in the special housing units, and we also saw instances of people being held for over 15 days at a time, without being moved to a rehabilitative unit,' Salazar said. State Senator Daniel Stec has seven prisons in his district. For the second time, he's introducing a bill to repeal HALT. 'We're going to give them another opportunity to get it right. To realize that people who debated against this bill a few years ago and said it was a bad idea and make us less safe,' he said. 'Now, we have data that proves we are right. There's an opportunity to do the right thing.' Despite Salazar's claims, Stec says the HALT Act has rewarded inmates for bad behavior. 'I want to know what Julia Salazar and some of my colleagues would say to the spouse of someone that had their face caved in by a sock with something heavy in it. That happens, and they'll never see again,' he said. 'What is the deterrent inside prisons where if someone does something like that, the worst they'll get is a timeout for 15 days, where they'll have Wi-Fi and tablets.' According to DOCCS, assaults on corrections staff have gone up each year under the HALT Act. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former Corrections Officer Speaks After Termination From State
MALONE, NY (WVNY/WFFF) – Earlier this week, the state made a final deal with striking corrections officers, leading to thousands going back to work in New York prisons. Corrections officers said working inside the state's prisons is just too dangerous. 'At Upstate we had several exposures,' said Deven Hooper, a former C.O. (corrections officer) at Upstate Correctional Facility, in Malone, New York. 'There had been several safety situations that had come up before that. We were trying to get people's attention that there was something going on, that we needed help. During the same period, The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner, Daniel Martuscello, sent out a memo advising that 70% staffing would become the new 100%. 'We had been running our facilities at 70 percent so well that it was going to become our new norm, our 100 percent,' said Hooper. That is when thousands of corrections officers at 38 of New York's 42 prisons staged an unsanctioned strike. For 22 days officers, along with family, friends, and supporters stood outside their respective prisons demanding one major change. 'The only thing that we really wanted out of this was safety inside the facilities, for the corrections officers, for the guys that work down back and for the incarcerated individuals. The state responded by issuing notices. During one of several online press conferences, Martuscello was joined by the commissioner for Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Jackie Bray. 'Yesterday, we began terminations of corrections officers. Today, we terminated health insurance for officers who have been AWOL,' said Bray. Hooper is still trying to come to terms with losing his health insurance. 'I have 3 kids at home. I have a wife. I support all of them. To suddenly have my insurance cut off…,' said Hooper. 'We struggle, but we find ways to get around it. If she wants to cut off our insurance, so be it. We're better than that. We knew she was playing a game from the beginning. During all of this, mediations and negotiations took place. The state put out several officers, but the officers rejected them, saying that the safety issues were not corrected. 'It didn't address the safety situations. As for the HALT Act, it was only a 90 day stop on HALT,' said Hooper. 'It's just a band-aid for the situation.' The final offer from the state came out last Saturday. It was dependent on 85 percent of officers returning to work on Monday. Even though only 77 percent returned, leaving at least 2,000 officers behind, it was enough for the state to honor the deal anyway. 'I understand everybody has their own situations. Everybody has their own reasons for going back,' said Hooper. 'But I, personally, couldn't cross the line, not for the deal that came down through the line, not for the lack of safety that came through.' Those that did not return were sent termination letters from the state. 'Termination letters have been sent to over 2,000 people who have remained on strike,' said Martuscello, at Monday's online press conference. Hooper, along with the remaining officers on strike at Upstate Correctional Facility, say despite being fired, they're proud to stand up for what they know is right. 'I'll stand here until the very last day,' said Hooper. Just a few days after the strike ended, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order banning those officers from working any state-related positions, including police forces. Considering the dire need for more corrections officers in the state, even before all this, it's still unclear if some sort of reconciliation is likely or even possible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
11-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
2,000 Striking N.Y. Prison Officers Fired and Barred From Public Jobs
More than 2,000 state prison officers who failed to return to work after three weeks of wildcat strikes have been fired and will be barred from future law enforcement and other civil service jobs in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday. The affected officers, unlike 5,000 of their striking colleagues, spurned a Monday deadline set by their union and state officials as part of an agreement to end an illegal labor action that spread to nearly all of New York's prisons. The deal to end the strikes was contingent on 85 percent of officers' returning to the job by Monday morning. Although not enough strikers went back to meet that threshold, Ms. Hochul declared the strike over and said the state would fulfill its obligations under the agreement. 'Today, we can finally say this work stoppage is over and move forward towards making our prisons safer for all, supporting our correctional staff and recruiting the correction officers of the future,' the governor said in a statement. Ms. Hochul signed an executive order on Tuesday prohibiting officers who did not meet the deadline from future state employment and local law enforcement jobs. It made good on a threat to punish those who stayed out of work in defiance of a state civil service law that prohibits most public employees from striking. In the order, the governor justified her action by citing a provision of the civil service law that 'authorizes the disqualification of applicants for civil service employment who have previously been dismissed from public service for misconduct.' A spokesman for the officers' union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, declined to comment on the strikes' end, the deal that prompted it or Ms. Hochul's punishment of the holdouts. The union did not authorize the strikes. With the strikes over, about 10,000 officers were available to work at the state's 42 correctional facilities on Tuesday, officials said, compared with about 13,500 before the work stoppage began at two prisons in mid-February. About 6,000 National Guard troops that Ms. Hochul deployed to maintain order in the system amid the strikes will remain in prisons in a support role for an unspecified period, officials said. Striking officers said they had been driven to walk out by severe staff shortages, excessive forced overtime and dangerous working conditions. A state law limiting the use of solitary confinement was particularly contentious. Officers said it created hazards for them and incarcerated people alike by preventing violent inmates from being properly isolated. As part of the agreement to end the strikes, corrections officials said that some provisions of the law, the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement, or HALT, Act, would be suspended for 90 days and re-evaluated. In a statement, the Legal Aid Society criticized the 'vague terms' of the agreement to pause provisions of the HALT Act, saying it raised the prospect of 'a boundless and illegal circumvention of critical legal protections for incarcerated New Yorkers.' The society threatened legal action to ensure 'clarity' about how the state was complying with the law. The strikes began around the time 10 corrections officers were criminally charged, six with murder, in the fatal beating of an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility in December. The assault, during which the man, Robert Brooks, was handcuffed and shackled, was captured by officers' body-worn cameras. At least nine prisoners died during the strikes. One death, of Messiah Nantwi, 22, is being investigated by a special prosecutor and resulted in 15 corrections department employees being placed on leave. Nine prisoners interviewed by The New York Times said he had died after being beaten by prison officers. Ms. Hochul, acknowledging that the investigation is continuing, has said 'early reports point to extremely disturbing conduct leading to Mr. Nantwi's death.'
