Latest news with #JeromeWright
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Yahoo
2 incarcerated at Sing Sing found dead in cells as strike continues, NY officials confirm
OSSINING - Two men incarcerated at Sing Sing have died in the last week of February, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision officials confirmed. The deaths come amid a wildcat strike at 38 of New York's 42 state prisons, including Sing Sing Correctional Facility, according to DOCCS. The two men had been found unresponsive in their cells in separate incidents. While DOCCS confirmed the Sing Sing deaths, probes into the circumstances are ongoing. Advocates for prison reform have drawn a link to the deaths and the ongoing labor actions across the system. Day 10 of NY prison strike: Are striking NY prison workers being arrested? Jerome Wright, co-director of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, said lockdowns amid the shortage corrections officers were "life-threatening" and an illegal abdication of officer's basic responsibilities to provide people care. "The officers claim to be complaining about safety," said Wright, who was formerly incarcerated and has been an advocate for criminal justice reform. "They are not dying. We are." Several factors sparked the strikes, including correction officers' anger over state laws like the HALT Act, which restricted solitary confinement rules, and long hours worked under difficult conditions. The strike also comes after firings of corrections officers — and later murder charges — in connection with the beating death of Robert Brooks, who was incarcerated at Marcy Correctional Facility near Utica. The job actions started in mid-February. Both deaths, according to DOCCS, occurred on Feb. 26. Anthony Douglas, 67, was found unresponsive in his cell. According to DOCCS, CPR and other measures were taken by staff; local EMTs arrived and took over treatment. Douglas was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. by a doctor from a local hospital. He had been incarcerated in 1985, serving a 122-year-to-life sentence after he was convicted of 21 charges in Brooklyn, including first-degree rape, second-degree murder and burglary. Franklyn Dominguez, 35, was found unresponsive in his cell. Staff performed CPR and other measures, according to DOCCS; EMTs arrived and took over care. He was pronounced dead at Sing Sing at 8:48 p.m. by a doctor from a local hospital. Dominguez has been in DOCCS custody since 2022 and was serving a 0-to-six-year sentence after he was convicted in New York City of three counts of first-degree assault. Official cause of death for the men would be determined by the Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office. All deaths in DOCCS' facilities are also reviewed by the State Commission of Correction. While DOCCS did not report the men were in solitary conditions, activists have said they believe the men had been locked in their cells. 'While these rouge officers engage in an illegal wildcat strike, people in New York's prisons are dying while locked down in solitary confinement," Wright said. During the walkout, Gov. Kathy Hochul suspended part of the HALT Act, which restricts the use of solitary confinement. Corrections officers have railed against HALT, saying it limits their ability to separate people who are violent, takes away a deterrent and creates unsafe situations. Supports of HALT say the law keeps people safe, focuses on rehabilitation and curbs abuses of solitary confinement. HALT, among other things, restricts the use of solitary confinement for older and younger people, or for those living with disabilities. Art feeds life: He was saved by the arts program that inspired Oscar-nominee 'Sing Sing.' Now he leads it. Hochul has also enlisted the National Guard during the walkout. Wright of the #HALTsolitary Campaign demanded the HALT Solitary Confinement Law be fully reinstated "in order to stop torture, improve safety, and save lives." He also called on Hochul to use executive clemency to release elderly and vulnerable people now incarcerated. Her office did not immediately return a request for comment. Jose Saldana, director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, said the guards' decision to walk off the job had endangered lives. "The conditions inside New York prisons were bad enough before the work stoppage," said Saldana, who was formerly incarcerated for 38 years. Invoking the specter of the 1971 Attica uprising over abysmal conditions, Saldana added, "now the situation has only gotten more dire." Although the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association did not authorize the strike, the union has been in mediation talks with the state. A union spokesperson said he expected a formal offer from the state Thursday addressing the demands of those who have refused to work during the labor dispute. He did not provide details of that offer, but said if it occurred Thursday, it would be presented to union members still refusing to work. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Sing Sing deaths reported amid NY prison strikes. What we know now
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is the HALT Act? The talking point law that's part of the correction officer strike, explained
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Correction officers at over 20 New York State prisons are striking for a third day on Wednesday, including the Western New York facilities of Attica Correctional Facility, Collins Correctional Facility, Wende Correctional Facility and Lake View Correctional Facility. One of the major demands of the correction officers is to reverse what is called the HALT Act, but what exactly is that? The law, which stands for Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement, went into effect across the state in 2022. The law limits the use of solitary confinement and does not allow for solitary confinement for anyone over the age of 55 or under the age of 21, anyone who has a disability, and anyone who is pregnant. Correction officers are calling for a reversal of the law, saying that it leads to a lack of consequences and punishments in prisons. 'It's taken away their ability as correction officers to enforce the rules and to disincentivize bad behavior,' Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy (NY-23) said at a visit to Collins Correctional on Wednesday. 'There are no consequences to bad actions inside a prison in this state.' State preparing to send National Guard to staff prisons where officers are striking Supporters of the act have said that it is a good alternative in order to reduce violence in prisons, and that solitary confinement causes more harm than good. 'Solitary confinement causes devastating harm and death, and worsens safety for everyone, while actual alternatives are proven to reduce violence and better protect all involved, yet DOCCS (New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) has largely failed to adopt them,' said Jerome Wright, the co-director of the #HALTsolitary Campaign who was incarcerated for 32 years. 'Further repression of incarcerated people is not going to make things safer for anyone.' According to state documents, assaults by inmates on staff has gone up significantly since 2022. In 2022 there were nearly 1,500 assaults. That number went up to 1,671 in 2023 and then went up to over 2,000 in 2024. However, repealing the law is not that simple. Reversing the law would require legislation and is not something that Governor Kathy Hochul can do unilaterally. Langworthy called for the state legislature to go into an emergency session to repeal it. Union representative Kenny Gold said Hochul could use emergency powers to suspend it. Other demands of the workers include higher staffing levels, mandated body scans for visitors, scans of incoming mail to inmates, a $5,000 bonus for new employees and no overtime mandates over 16 hours, according to the union. Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
