Gov. Hochul as soon as dubbed Hazel Dukes, the venerable chief of New York State’s NAACP chapter, “my mom on Earth.” However Dukes and her board mentioned Tuesday they’re “profoundly disturbed” over the governor’s determination to droop parts of the HALT solitary regulation quickly through the wildcat jail guard strike.
The indictment of 10 officers — six for homicide — for the deadly, caught-on-video beating of prisoner Robert Brooks on Dec. 9 at Marcy Correctional Facility was speculated to be a “moment of accountability,” the NAACP convention mentioned in an announcement.
“Instead, DOCCS has used this moment to embrace the culture of brutality in New York State prisons.”
NY Legal professional Basic
Physique digital camera footage reveals officers brutally beating inmate Robert Brooks on the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, N.Y., on Dec. 9. Brooks died of his accidents the next day. (NY Legal professional Basic)
Daniel Martuscello, the commissioner of the state Division of Corrections and Neighborhood Supervision, had mentioned in a memo on Feb. 19, two days into the strike, that momentary suspension of parts of HALT was a part of the state’s response. He didn’t specify what that meant.
Later Tuesday, Hochul despatched a robust message to the hanging officers: “The illegal actions being taken by a number of individuals is putting the entire state at risk. We need them back to work; this must end immediately,” she mentioned. “We’ve done everything we can to encourage them to get back to work.”
James Miller, a spokesman for the correction officers union, mentioned mediation talks Monday centered on “the need for operational change,” together with suspending parts of HALT quickly and “potential legislative changes to permanently change HALT.”
Whereas the union might declare that, the regulation’s backers notice it was handed by an awesome majority within the state Legislature in 2022. Some 90 civil rights, spiritual and psychological well being teams despatched a letter to Martuscello Tuesday strongly pushing again on any change to HALT, momentary or in any other case.
“HALT is the law of New York State and DOCCS does not have the authority to push it aside,” the letter mentioned.
A earlier problem to the regulation by the union in federal court docket was dismissed in 2022.
New York NAACP President Hazel Dukes speaks through the New York State Democratic Conference on Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Picture/Seth Wenig)
“They don’t have the authority to suspend any law,” mentioned state Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn), a sponsor of HALT. “It offers some flexibility in situations like this, but you don’t get to suspend a law.”
Salazar mentioned a bunch of wives of hanging officers descended on her workplace in Albany Tuesday and screamed at her employees. “They were hostile and refused to leave,” she mentioned. “My staff handled it well. We didn’t have to call the police.”
In different developments, state law enforcement officials Sunday night time served cease-and-desist orders on strikers at their properties, Miller mentioned.
On Friday, it emerged that Hochul floated a plan in a funds modification asking for the authority to shut 5 extra prisons. Inmates at Collins Correctional Facility, one of many locations the place the strike began, had been being bussed to different lockups.
There has already been no less than one fatality. On Saturday morning, Jonathan Grant, a 61-year-old inmate, was discovered unresponsive in his cell and declared useless. An investigation is underway.
At Attica and Naked Hill prisons, notes written Monday claimed prisoners weren’t receiving sufficient meals, there was no scorching water and recreation and mail had been unavailable. “Dinner was one beef patty, lettuce and an apple,” the notice from Attica mentioned.
At Marcy, the place Brooks died, an inmate reported Friday, “We are on complete lockdown. The only movement I have seen are men going to the infirmary for their insulin and medication.”
Correctional officers and their supporters show in sight of Coxsackie Correctional Facility within the Hudson Valley on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, in Coxsackie, N.Y. (AP Picture/Michael Hill)
At Auburn Correctional Facility, an inmate claimed he “hadn’t been let out of his cell in days.”
At Sing Sing jail, an inmate claimed Monday, “Just got back from getting informed by the administration that there is a total lockdown, but no one knows when it will end.”
At Japanese in Ulster County, a prisoner reported Tuesday he was “losing vision” in a single eye, however he’s not getting medical assist.
At 5 Factors jail — like Auburn, additionally within the Finger Lakes area — an inmate reported in a notice that he spoke to a nurse about “sharp stabbing chest pains,” however that she responded, “There is nothing we can do about it. Try to lay down and relax.”
Hanging correction officers and their supporters man a picket line in sight of Coxsackie Correctional Facility within the Hudson Valley on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, in Coxsackie, N.Y. (AP Picture/Michael Hill)
At Inexperienced Haven CF in Dutchess County Saturday, an inmate reported that his good friend, age 75 and in a wheelchair, wasn’t getting his ache medicines delivered to him. “He needs someone to push him down to the hospital in his wheelchair [to get his meds] because he can’t do it on his own power,” the notice claimed.
At Shawangunk CF in Ulster County, an inmate reported Monday the Nationwide Guardsmen had been taking part in playing cards and chess within the items. The Guard members, 6,500 of whom had been deployed by Hochul in response to the strike — with some tenting in jail gyms — have acquired some constructive marks from the jail inhabitants. “It feels like a vacation,” an inmate informed an observer.
“While this is far from an ideal situation, I ask each of you to stick with us during this challenging time,” Martuscello wrote in a message to inmates Sunday.
Hochul commented on her relations with Dukes on Aug. 26, 2021, on the swearing-in of then-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin. “My mom on Earth is Hazel Dukes,” she mentioned. “She has befriended me, stood with me through thick and thin, she’s my spiritual adviser.”
Initially Printed: February 25, 2025 at 5:36 PM EST
