2 days ago
State lawmakers will vote on prison reform package in last days of session
Jun. 10—ALBANY — State lawmakers will consider, and most likely pass, a legislative package meant to overhaul parts of the state prisons and county jails — the culmination of months of debate in the face of serious problems in the state corrections system.
On Monday afternoon, one bill with language from 10 smaller pieces of legislation was drawn up and introduced in the Senate and Assembly. In about 20 pages, it lays out new rules regarding body cameras, death notifications for incarcerated people, autopsy reports for people who die in state custody, expands and gives more power to the state oversight committee and the independent prison monitor, and extends the statute of limitations to sue the state for emotional or physical injury that resulted from negligence in state or county facilities.
The packages were introduced as a result of negotiations among the Democratic majorities in both the state Assembly and Senate — those negotiations resulted in this deal which both majority conferences have agreed to vote to pass.
Altogether, the package would require the release of video footage related to the death of an incarcerated person involving security staff to the Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations within 72 hours in most cases; empower the Attorney General to address conflicts of interest within that office to limit instances where the AG has to appoint a special prosecutor; require the installation of a fixed-camera surveillance system in all state prisons and local jails, requires that when someone dies in prison that DOCCS report the death publicly and inform the next of kin within 24 hours; expands the state Commission on Corrections; orders a study on deaths in the prison system to develop a plan to reduce those deaths; requires quarterly reports from the DOCCS special investigations office; mandates more information including x-rays and photographs be included in autopsy reports done on people who die in prison; and permits that the independent Correctional Association of New York can access public records without submitting a FOIL request and can tour a prison with only 24 hours notice.
The package doesn't include everything that lawmakers have been considering for reform this year. Some more progressive lawmakers had advanced a larger package, which they called the Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice Reform — named after the man who was killed by corrections officers in a brutal attack, caught on body cameras, in December.
The Brooks package included 22 bills that would have addressed many aspects of the state prisons, expanding the Department of Corrections power to discipline its security staff, creating an ombudsman's office for the prisons, requiring both professional and security staff to intervene in incidents of violence, as well as expanding parole, good behavior time credits, medical care and rights for incarcerated people and specifically pregnant people in jails and prisons, among other bills.
The package introduced Monday doesn't include the bills to address parole or earned time, it doesn't address medical care in the prisons or expand rehabilitative programming or alternative court programs.
Some lawmakers aren't satisfied with the lack of parole or good-time reforms in this package, arguing that the state prisons have gotten significant attention and are in a serious crisis now and that lawmakers should have used that attention and clear problem to make more significant reforms. But others acknowledged that changing the entrenched practices of the corrections system will take time.
Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, D-Brooklyn, is a leading sponsor for one bill in the package, the bill to add more members to the state Commission on Corrections. Gallagher's bill, carried by Senator Julia Salazar, D-Brooklyn, would add six members to the existing three that sit on the SCOC, three appointed by the Senate and three appointed by the Assembly, coupled with the existing three members appointed by the Governor. Gallagher said that she hopes, with a larger SCOC and more specific requirements that members of the commission represent backgrounds in psychiatry, social work, corrections or have experience as an incarcerated person, the oversight group will take a more active role in reforming and holding the state prisons accountable.
Gallagher and other lawmakers have criticized the SCOC for failing to effectively operate for years now — the group hasn't held a public meeting longer than 14 minutes in at least three years. Despite the ongoing staffing crisis in the state prisons, the two high-profile murders of incarcerated people by COs within the last year, and the estimated 70-plus other deaths of incarcerated people just this year, the SCOC has not held a public meeting longer than 3 minutes this year.
On Tuesday, Gallagher and a group of supporters rallied in support of her bill and the omnibus prison reform package — acknowledging that it's a step along the way to what they want, and not the full package.
"The package as a whole will increase oversight and provide an essential layer of protection, accountability and transparency," Gallagher said. "It's not enough, but it's certainly a first step. It is an essential first step if we are to meaningfully move the needle for our incarcerated community members."
The state Legislature has just a few days to advance this package if it's to pass this year; the Senate will leave town on Thursday, not scheduled to return until January, while the Assembly will leave town for the year on June 17. It's not clear what the Governor's position on the bill is either, as she doesn't comment on legislation before it's delivered to her desk for final approval. If the package passes the legislature, Hochul can choose to sign it as-is, veto it entirely or make significant amendments for the legislature to review next year.
