Members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus are calling on state lawmakers to pass a slate of prison reform bills before the end of the legislative session.
The caucus members are seeking the changes in response to the beating deaths of two incarcerated men by corrections officers in separate New York state correctional facilities in Oneida County. In throwing their weight behind the distilled set of bills, they hope to focus debate and ensure action in the final two weeks of a legislative session that has been slow to respond to calls for greater accountability.
In total, the caucus is backing more than 20 previously introduced bills under the umbrella of the “Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice and Reform.” Proposed changes range from expanding diversion programs for individuals with mental health or substance issues, to expand parole eligibility and give oversight groups more authority to investigate cases of alleged misconduct.
Brooks was punched, kicked and stomped at Marcy Correction Facility last December in an assault captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras.
“You know, we're seeing these instances (of violence) in a visual sense, and it really underscores that we need truth, oversight, and a systematic change,” said Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, a Nassau County Democrat who leads the caucus.
The bills follow months of turmoil in the state’s prisons that included the death of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State Correctional Facility and a three-week prison strike. The wildcat strike, sparked by staff dissatisfaction over working conditions, forced incarcerated people to go without rehabilitative programming, family visits and reliable medical care for weeks.
“Their deaths are not isolated incidents – they reflect a deeper, ongoing pattern of abuse and a lack of overall accountability that puts both those in custody and correctional staff in harm’s way,” the caucus wrote in a statement.
The approximately 80-member group met with criminal justice advocates and with Brooks’ father, Robert Ricks, to compile the bill package.
The caucus said the bills, if passed and implemented, would hold correctional facilities more accountable for misconduct, implement sentencing reform, create safer conditions in prisons, and expand rehabilitation efforts.
“This blueprint is not just merely a policy on paper,” Solages said. “We want to make sure that that meaningful second chances and pathways to redemption are available and not death sentences. And we want to make sure that we're passing essential parole and sentencing reform, and ensuring that rehabilitation is triumphing over retribution.”
Several of the bills have seen a bigger push from criminal justice advocates in recent months. The Fair and Timely Parole Bill, for example, would remove a requirement that the parole board consider if an offense is so serious that parole would “undermine respect” for the law. The Second Look Act would allow judges to reconsider “excessive sentences” and allow individuals to share evidence of their rehabilitation.
Other bills are gaining newfound attention.
The “End Health Professional Complicity in Torture” bill would formally ban health workers from “participating in, facilitating, or failing to report” when incarcerated people are tortured in state prisons.
The bill was introduced more than a decade ago but failed to move forward because “people (were) saying it wasn’t necessary,” said Assemblymember Anna Kelles, an Ithaca Democrat.
“Well, I’m sorry, but Messiah and Robert would disagree if they were still alive,” said Kelles, who is co-sponsoring the bill with state Sen. Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat. “There is a reason why infirmaries in the prison setting are called torture chambers.”
