They, Too, Died After Beatings by Guards. No One Raised an Alarm.
Jan Ransom / New York Times — Two brutal killings, less than three months apart, in New York State’s prison system raised troubling questions: Had other inmates met similar fates?
State lawmakers say they’re not done with prison overhaul in New York
Dan Clark / Times Union — (ALBANY) After striking a deal this month with Gov. Kathy Hochul on the most significant package of prison oversight legislation in years, Democrats in the state Legislature say they’re not done with the New York corrections system...
Parole and sentencing reform left out of omnibus prison reform bill
Rebecca C. Lewis / City & State NY — Criminal justice advocates are chafing at the exclusion of measures they say are necessary to respond to Robert Brooks’ death in a truly meaningful way...
Advocate criticizes lack of parole reform in New York prison omnibus package
Susan Arbetter / Spectrum News — After months of back and forth, Democrats in the New York state Senate and Assembly have reached a deal on a slate of prison reforms in response to the deaths of two men, Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, at the hands of correction officers in state facilities. The omnibus bill has multiple parts...
State Democrats get behind NY prison reforms in legislative session’s final days
Jeongyoon Han / WXXI News — Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly agreed late Monday on a set of prison reforms that would increase oversight in New York correctional facilities, months after the beating deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi at the hands of corrections officers while incarcerated...
Key NY legislative caucus endorses criminal justice bills in light of prison deaths
Jeongyoon Han / WXXI News / Gothamist — Members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus are calling on lawmakers to pass a slate of prison reform bills before the end of the legislative session...
New York State must now focus on parole reform
Julia Salazar & Tracie Adams / NY Daily News — Thousands of New Yorkers who have served their time remain languishing behind bars. The systemic failure to release those ready to return home strains a dangerous carceral system and costs New York taxpayers billions of dollars every year. But we have safe and practical solutions available...
Which bills could pass now that the budget is done?
Austin C. Jefferson / City & State New York — New York finally has a budget, but there is still over a month left to go in the legislative session. State lawmakers covered a lot in the $254 billion spending plan, from public safety to education and housing. But other policy issues still remain on the docket...
Invest in what truly works to improve community safety
Samra Brouk / Rochester Beacon — Currently, our prison system focuses only on punishment without considering its long-term consequences. Instead, we need to find ways to enable incarcerated people to grow and change. As chair of the Senate Mental Health Committee, I recognize that when we help individuals heal, we make our communities safer places to live...
Blueprint for resolving NYS prison crisis draws political support
Tandy Lau / Amsterdam News — The Justice Policy Institute’s (JPI) newest report titled “A Moment of Reckoning,” which delineates a criminal justice reform gameplan toward ending the state’s ongoing prison crisis and was released on March 13, is gaining support...
New York’s Prison Officials Don’t Want Incarcerated People to Read This Story
Rebecca McCray / Hell Gate — On Monday morning, state correction officers trickled back to work following a three-week-long wildcat strike that affected nearly all of the state’s 42 prisons and caused disruptions in meals, medication distribution, education and rec programming, and effectively confined incarcerated people to their cells for nearly 24 hours a day in some facilities. Over the course of the strike, seven incarcerated people died, including 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi of the Bronx, who was reportedly beaten to death by correction officers who have since been placed on leave...
The Hidden War Fueling the New York Prison Guard Strike
Orisanmi Burton / Inquest — New York state prison guards have been on strike since February 17. The strike began in part as a result of attempts by the state to prosecute the death of Robert Brooks, a forty-three-year-old Black father who was serving a twelve-year prison sentence at Marcy Correctional Facility when he was fatally beaten by guards on December 9, 2024...