Albany, NY – Today, State Senator Julia Salazar, Chair of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, released a first-of-its-kind report on last spring’s landmark Joint Public Hearing on the ongoing crisis in New York State prisons, which featured testimony from incarcerated and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers, their loved ones, legal experts, advocates, and State officials. The report found that the State’s prisons regularly abuse and neglect incarcerated individuals, fail to hold correctional officers accountable for wrongdoing or even investigate misconduct, openly violate the law, and more. The report also outlines key recommendations to reduce the brutality of confinement, increase oversight and accountability, and expand pathways to release for those who have rehabilitated and served their time.
The Joint Public Hearing on the Safety of Persons in Custody, Transparency, and Accountability within State Correctional Facilities was held on May 14, 2025.
State Senator Julia Salazar, Chair of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, released the following statement:
“This report makes a public case that’s crystal clear, well-substantiated, and utterly devastating: the need to overhaul New York’s prisons is an emergency. State prisons are legally and ethically responsible for protecting those they detain, but incarcerated New Yorkers routinely suffer severe, lethal abuse and neglect. Misconduct toward incarcerated individuals by correctional officers is commonplace—and so are the cover-ups. While New York passed the HALT Solitary Confinement Act to ensure compliance with international human rights law and to reduce the level of torture inside of our prisons, DOCCS flagrantly violates this law. Medical neglect, discrimination, and inhumane conditions are all the norm. The passage of the Prison Reform Omnibus Bill was a serious step toward mitigating this disaster, but we must do much more. State lawmakers have a moral obligation to pursue all paths toward ending the brutality on which New York’s prison system is built.”
Robert Ricks, father of Robert Brooks, said “In December of 2024, New York’s violent, racist, and inhuman prison system enabled correction officers to murder my son, Robert Brooks, in cold blood. Losing your child is a pain I would not wish upon anyone. This report makes it clear that the execution of Robert was not a standalone occurrence; it was the norm. It should not be normal that government employees can assault and kill a New Yorker in their care. Yet that is exactly the case — our State prisons have normalized the killing, torture, and brutalization of New Yorkers, with rare instances of accountability or justice. State leaders have a moral obligation to implement the recommendations outlined in this report, or the blood of future murders by prison staff is on their hands.”
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