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Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery stands firmly with the HALT Solitary Confinement Coalition and all advocates demanding that ���������� fully implement and adhere to the HALT Solitary Confinement Law—a law we fought for together and won.

Recent reports of corrections officers openly defying HALT, coupled with the tragic deaths of incarcerated individuals like Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, underscore the urgent need for action. We cannot allow corrections officers to decide when and how the law applies. The law is clear: HALT must be enforced to end the torturous practice of solitary confinement in ����������’s prisons.

Let’s be clear: HALT was passed to protect people—especially those with mental health and substance use needs—from the cruelty of long-term solitary confinement. We know that isolation exacerbates mental health conditions, increases the risk of suicide, and creates long-term harm that devastates families and communities. Without HALT, thousands of ����������ers will continue to suffer in conditions that amount to state-sanctioned torture.

The Alliance urges our partners and allies to join us as we:

• Push for full enforcement of HALT, regardless of staffing challenges. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) does not have the authority to unilaterally suspend parts of a law. We stand with the 55 state legislators who are calling for an end to these illegal suspensions.
• Support the expansion of the State Commission of Correction (SCOC) by passing S856/A2315 to strengthen oversight and prevent future abuses. Adding diverse expertise—including public health, mental health, and formerly incarcerated voices—is critical to transforming a system that has allowed unchecked violence for far too long.
• Center the mental health and well-being of incarcerated people. People with mental health and substance use needs are especially vulnerable in the carceral system. ���������� must uphold their rights, including access to services, support, and community—not punishment and isolation.
• Continue the fight for transparency, accountability, and safety in all correctional settings. We cannot and will not tolerate a return to the days when correctional officers could brutalize, neglect, or even kill people in their care without consequences.

Together, we demand a ���������� where no one is tortured or dies in a prison cell—and where HALT is fully implemented as the law of the land. Let’s stay united in this fight for justice!

55 N.Y. Legislators Urge State to Stop Suspending Elements of HALT Solitary Confinement Law
By Graham Rayman | Daily News | May 27, 2025

A group of 55 state legislators sent a letter Tuesday to the state prisons commissioner urging him to discontinue the poststrike suspension of elements of the HALT law limiting the use of .

In the period since the prison guards strike  in March, the legislators claim in the letter to the commissioner, Daniel Martuscello, they have received “numerous reports — from multiple government agencies, the courts, reporters and an independent watchdog — of systemic violations of the HALT Law.”

“Nothing in the HALT Law allows the department to suspend portions of the law,” the letter states. “[The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision] does not have the authority to unilaterally suspend part of a duly enacted law and attempts to do so infringe on the separation of powers and our legislative authority.”

In a statement, Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the denied the HALT Act — Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement — was paused, and added the HALT law and state correction law allows the agency to suspend solitary confinement rules during an ongoing state of emergency.

“The programming elements of the HALT Act were paused for 90 days,” Mailey said in the statement.

“During that time periodic reviews have been and will be conducted. At the end of the 90 days, a review of staffing and operations in the 42 DOCCS correctional facilities will take place and a decision will be made regarding the programming elements.”

The 90-day period ends in June. Under , the duration of solitary confinement is capped at 15 days, and prisoners must be provided programming outside of their cells.

When the strike ended, Gov. Hochul fired roughly 2,000 guards who had refused to return to work, exacerbating a staffing shortfall that the state claims has limited HALT-required programming.

A second consequence of the staffing shortfall has been, according to city officials, that the transfers of people held in the city jails who serve state prison sentences has been delayed, contributing to a  in the jail population.

On Wednesday, activists will hold a rally in Albany urging the Legislature to increase the number of members of the state Commission on Correction from three to nine.

The bill, known in the Senate as  and the Assembly as , would also require the new members include experts in public health and behavioral health care, a public defender and someone who previously served prison time.

Yonah Zeitz of the  cited the indictments of prison guards in the killings of prisoners Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi as motivation for the reform.

“This is a critical moment to address correctional accountability and oversight,” he said.  “For more than 20 years the SCOC has consistently failed to meet its responsibility” to ensure jails and prisons are safe, stable and humane.

Ten guards were  in the Dec. 9 beating death of Brooks, 43, at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y.

Nantwi, 22, was  March 1 at Mid-State Correctional Facility located a half-mile from Marcy CF. Ten correction officers were charged in that case.

����������’s Prisons and Jails are Deadly. Expanding Oversight Will Save Lives
By Assemblymember Emily Gallagher and Ziyadah Amatul-Matin | Empire Report | May 28, 2025

����������’s prisons and jails are dangerous and deadly for incarcerated people. For decades, ���������� State’s correctional watchdog has failed to fulfill its mandate to keep incarcerated people safe and investigate when people are harmed in state custody —leading to a culture of impunity that has resulted in rampant abuse and even murder by corrections officers.

A bill (S856/A2315)  the State Senate that seeks to increase oversight by expanding and diversifying the State Commission of Correction (SCOC)—the watchdog body that has a constitutional mandate to ensure correctional facilities are “safe, stable, and humane.” Support for this legislation is growing with nearly  calling for increased accountability to help curtail the rampant abuse in state facilities. All eyes now turn to the Assembly to see if it will advance before the session ends next month.

Less than six months ago, correction officers brutally killed Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility. Mr. Brooks’ hands were cuffed behind his back while at least 14 people stood around watching and many participated in kicking, punching, and beating him to death, in such a blasé way that it suggested business as usual at the state facility. The only reason we know about it is because the officers thought they turned off their body cameras, but the cameras were operating in standby mode and accidentally captured Mr. Brooks’ killing. So far, 14 officers have been fired and  of Mr. Brooks.

To make matters worse, correction officers staged an unauthorized strike for over three weeks at the end of February to distract from the criminal indictments in the Brooks case.

During this time, incarcerated people faced physical abuse and lost access to medical care, educational programming, time out of cell, family visitations, and even nutritious food. At least  7 incarcerated individuals  during the strike — many of these deaths were likely avoidable, had correction officers not been illegally striking. Many programs and visitations have still not been fully restored.

And then this past March, correction officers allegedly killed Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State Correctional Facility across the street from where Robert Brooks was killed. So far,  have been charged in Mr. Nantwi’s death, including  who were charged with murder. Again, we only know the details of his brutal assault because  went public, risking their safety, to tell the media .

These cases are hardly anomalous. There are hundreds of instances that showcase the pattern of brutal violence incarcerated ����������ers suffer at the hands of correctional staff. Incarcerated people have rights that must be protected. They have the right to medical treatment, basic necessities like food and clothing, visitations, and time out of cells. Most importantly, they have the right not to be murdered by the people who are supposed to protect them and provide their care.

After Mr. Brooks and Mr. Nantwi were killed, lawmakers and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision—also known as DOCCS—promised substantial change. The ���������� State budget has increased the SCOC’s funding to more than $7 million—which was desperately needed—and increased oversight responsibilities, but there needs to be a substantial leadership shift in the commission for these added resources to be used effectively.

The SCOC is statutorily authorized to inspect all 42 correctional facilities in ����������, run investigations, provide reports to the legislature and the governor, and shut down facilities out of compliance. It had nine commissioners when it was enacted in the late 1800s, but was slashed to three in the 1990s due to budget cuts. The SCOC’s performance has taken a nosedive since its decimation decades ago.

Our bill would expand and diversify the SCOC so it can do its job. First, it would increase the number of commissioners from three to nine and distribute appointments among the Governor, the Senate, the Assembly, and the independent nonprofit, the Correctional Association of ����������.

Second, the appointment requirements would guarantee a diversity of backgrounds across commissioners, including in public health, behavioral healthcare, prisoner’s rights litigation, and personal experiences of incarceration. This broader expertise and perspective will allow the commission to meaningfully advocate for the health and safety of incarcerated people.

We’re encouraged by Governor Hochul’s support for prison reform and Speaker Heastie’s appearance at a critical public hearing on the prison crisis last week. The ���������� Assembly must pass this straightforward and incredibly timely legislation this year and send it to the governor’s desk for her signature.

Incarceration is not intended to be a death sentence. The more than 32,000 community members serving time in state corrections deserve to know that a state body is overseeing these facilities and will intervene if their rights are violated. Up until now, the SCOC has not lived up to that mandate, but we believe that it can and must.

Ziyadah Amatul-Matin is a Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice.

Emily Gallagher represents the North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg in the ���������� State Assembly.