Advocates Demand Answers as State Prisons Face Scrutiny After Deaths
Reformers say deaths and proposed cuts to prison oversight funding demand a close look at New York’s correctional system.
Originally posted at: https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/03/13/state-prison-deaths-reform-solitary-funding/
By Reuven Blau
A coalition of more than 50 advocacy organizations is urging New York lawmakers to scrutinize the state’s prison system, pressing for answers about alleged brutality, deaths behind bars and violations of solitary confinement reforms as the legislature weighs more than $4 billion in funding.
The push for reforms comes amid renewed scrutiny of the correctional system following the deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, two incarcerated men killed by officers inside state prisons four months apart.
The demands were outlined in a letter sent Tuesday to Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and other lawmakers.
Shortly after the deaths of Brooks in December 2024 and Nantwi in March of last year, Hochul promised a series of changes for the beleaguered New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
“The system failed Mr. Brooks, and I will not be satisfied until there has been significant culture change,” Hochul said at the time.
The reforms included more than $418 million to expand camera systems in the state’s 42 correctional facilities. Additionally, 5,672 body-worn cameras were bought for officers assigned to posts such as housing galleries, facility escorts and prisoner transports.
But only 11 prisons have finished installing fixed cameras, while 17 more are still in the design or construction phase or undergoing upgrades, according to a state prison spokesperson. State officials have not disclosed which companies were hired for the work or when the projects will be completed.
Additionally, Hochul’s administration hired WilmerHale, a high-powered law firm, to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of DOCCS. That $9.3 million report is long-delayed and there’s no new timeline for it to be completed.
According to DOCCS data cited by the advocates, at least 160 people have died in New York prisons since Brooks’ death. The average age of death in state custody is just 56, they noted.
DOCCS said deaths that appear to involve anything other than natural causes or known medical conditions are investigated by the agency’s Office of Special Investigations as well as the New York State Police and reported to the New York State Office of the Attorney General.
Hochul’s proposed $4.15 billion budget also calls for eliminating the $3 million one-year funding boost to the Correctional Association of New York (CANY). That funding had allowed the nonprofit to hire 10 staff and focus on high-risk facilities.
“We were shocked,” Sumeet Sharma, CANY’s director of policy, told THE CITY.
Meanwhile, advocates continue to press lawmakers on multiple fronts.
They want answers about DOCCS’s implementation of the HALT Solitary Law, efforts to improve parole and medical care for aging prisoners, and the department’s policies around visits, rehabilitation programs and racial disparities in incarceration and disciplinary practices.
The coalition members include the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign to the HALT Solitary Campaign and the Center for Community Alternatives.
Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the state prison system, said Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III has “zero tolerance for violence within DOCCS correctional facilities,” adding that all allegations of misconduct or policy violations are subject to investigation. Mailey added the agency continues to work with lawmakers and advocacy groups on reforms aimed at improving safety and accountability inside prisons.
Jose Saldana, director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, said he hears regularly from families whose loved ones have died while incarcerated.
“Every week, I get a phone call about another person dying in state prisons under what are at best questionable circumstances,” said Saldana, who spent 38 years incarcerated before his release. “This is a crisis rooted in the legacy of racism, and it will continue unless our state is ready to fully commit itself to human rights for all.”
The letter also raises concerns about aging prisoners, medical care and parole decisions that advocates say are contributing to a growing number of deaths behind bars.
Advocates pointed to a 2020 investigation by THE CITY that found many deaths in New York prisons were preventable and tied to what experts described as “grossly substandard medical treatment.” The average age of death from so-called natural causes in state prisons is roughly 60, the letter notes — far below life expectancy outside prison.
The coalition is demanding answers about how many elderly prisoners with cognitive impairments or terminal illnesses are currently housed in the prison system’s regional medical units.
The letter also highlights the growing number of older people behind bars. A February report by the state comptroller found that nearly one in four people incarcerated in New York prisons is older, a demographic shift advocates say should push officials to expand release options for aging prisoners who pose little public safety risk.
Advocates also questioned the practices of the state’s parole system, which is overseen by DOCCS. Research cited in the letter suggests the New York State Board of Parole could have significantly increased release rates without increasing crime.
They also pointed to studies finding racial disparities in parole outcomes, with white applicants more likely to be granted release than Black and Latino prisoners even when factors such as criminal history and disciplinary records.
Beyond prison conditions, the letter also criticizes visitation policies that advocates say are unnecessarily restrictive for families.
In some facilities, relatives traveling long distances to see loved ones have been denied visits after body scanners flagged items such as menstrual products, implants or scar tissue, according to the advocates. Others report waiting outside prisons for hours in freezing temperatures before visits begin.
Research has consistently shown that maintaining family contact improves safety in prison and lowers recidivism after release, the letter notes. Yet under a policy adopted during the tenure of DOCCS Commissioner Martuscello III, incarcerated people can lose visiting privileges for minor rule violations, according to the advocates.
“Again, there is a longstanding human-rights crisis in New York State prisons and lawmakers should not be throwing good money after bad,” the organizations wrote in the letter.