May 28—ALBANY — There are less than two weeks of voting days left for this year’s state legislative session, and a push to pass a package of prison reform bills could end with little progress as the deadline looms.
Lawmakers hosted an hourslong joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly prison committees two weeks ago, hearing from advocates, experts, prison staff, the families of the incarcerated and the people who run some of the oversight organizations meant to keep the state prison system in check. On the heels of two murders of incarcerated people by corrections officers, a monthslong prison strike and a slow restoration of normal operations, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seemed interested in passing reform legislation.
One bill pushed by Sen. Julia Salazar, D-Brooklyn, to expand the State Commission on Corrections, was written by Assemblymember Emily E. Gallagher, D-Brooklyn. On Wednesday, outside the Alfred E. Smith Office Building just west of the Capitol, Gallagher said the commission has yielded all responsibility for the state prisons they’re meant to oversee.
“This watchdog is a lap dog right now,” Gallagher said.
The SCOC is a board of three individuals, all appointed by the governor, tasked with orchestrating state oversight over all new and existing jail and prison facilities, investigating the deaths of incarcerated people, conducting facility reviews and setting prison and jail population limits.
Despite its role in overseeing the state prison system, the SCOC has been remarkably silent as the prisons have undergone major crises, from the deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi to the weekslong security staff strike in February and March and the ongoing struggle to reset the prisons to normal operations. The SCOC has not made any public statements, answered media questions, responded to lawmaker questions or participated in a hearing in months. And the commission’s monthly public meetings have been short. On Wednesday, the public portion of the SCOC meeting lasted just 1 minute and 40 seconds before the members went into executive session. Video records show that the SCOC has not met in public for more than 14 minutes in over two years.
Under Gallagher’s bill, the SCOC would be expanded. Beyond the three governor’s nominees, three would come from the Senate and three from the Assembly, with a requirement that the independent Correctional Association of New York review nominees and that those nominees have backgrounds in psychology, human rights, experience as an incarcerated person or other prison-related experience.
“This representation is essential if we are going to have a board that has the expertise and perspective necessary to meaningfully conduct oversight and hold officers accountable, and facilities accountable, and protect incarcerated people,” Gallagher said.
She said she’s hopeful that putting more people on the SCOC, who come from more than just a law enforcement background, will spur the organization into action and have it step up as a true overseer for facilities.
“We are hoping that we would add energized people who are not looking for a job after retirement, but who are actually invested in fixing what is housing for a really large number of the New York state population,” she said.
This bill to expand the SCOC has already passed in the state Senate this year. It still needs a vote in the Assembly Corrections Committee to move to the floor there for a final vote before it can be sent to Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul, who can veto, change or sign it into law.
Gallagher said she is pushing for the corrections committee to move the bill forward. She said lawmakers in the Assembly are now looking to pass roughly 30 bills before the session ends, and are considering which bills will have the biggest impact.
“That’s why it’s essential to have this SCOC bill at the top of the list,” Gallagher said.
She acknowledged that just getting the SCOC more active isn’t going to unilaterally change the prisons, but it’s a first step to changing the culture in the state prisons system.
“Investing in oversight will not change the culture of violence and impunity overnight, but it’s an essential first step if we are to see meaningful changes,” she said.
Assemblymember Erik M. Dilan, D-Brooklyn, chair of the Assembly Corrections Committee, could not be reached for comment by press time on Wednesday.